Experiments of the past three years have confirmed that the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam are suitable for apple cultivation.
If all goes well, commercial production of apples could begin in four to five years.
“We are undertaking further study on the varieties that are suitable for the region. The outcome of these studies is expected in a couple of years,” chief scientist of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, Ramesh Aggarwal, said. He was on a visit to the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) at Chintapalli in the Agency area of the district recently.
“Low chilling varieties of apple saplings — Anna, Michael and Selection — were planted at RARS, in 2014. The results — the average number of fruits per tree was 35 and average weight of each fruit was 53 gm,” Associate Director of Research, RARS, G. Jogi Naidu, told The Hindu .
“We again planted new varieties — Apple ‘A’ mark creeper, Apple Bilaspur and Nonisalan — in August 2016 and we are expecting good results. The CCMB distributed around 5,000 saplings to 100 tribal farmers in 2014 for cultivation in the Agency. Around 15,000 saplings were distributed to them recently,” he said.
“The results have shown that the fruit has a sweet/sour taste. It is small in size,” said Mr. Naidu.
“The overall average minimum temperatures in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district is in the range of 4 to 17 degrees Celsius during winter. RARS is also growing wheat from Indore and white rajma, chick pea, barley and oats on an experimental basis.”
