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Dry spell in Himachal leaves fruit growers, tourism industry jittery
Himachal fruit growers worry the dry spell may deal heavy damages to the rabi crop; hoteliers in wait-and-watch mode
At a time when Himachal Pradesh basks in an unusually warm winter, farmers and fruit growers in the hill state are occupied with worries of a prolonged dry spell — which may deal heavy damages to the rabi crop.
While the night temperature in the state hovers around the normal mark, the day temperatures have risen — at times five to six degrees above normal — said Sandeep Kumar Sharma, senior scientist at the MeT’s Shimla centre.
The same has left fruit growers worried, given the warmer temperatures can affect the dormancy cycle that determines the timing and quality of bud break. Insufficient chilling can reduce and delay bud break, cause non-uniform flowering and, as a consequence result in small and abnormal production. The dry spell, in short, has delayed the winter cycle for the owners of apple orchards.
Speaking of the same, Progressive Growers Association president Lokinder Singh Bisht said, “In higher temperatures, trees do not go into dormancy resulting in uneven chilling and consequent uneven and weak flowering resulting in a poor crop set. Unseasonably warm temperatures in December have also made the apple orchards more vulnerable to diseases.”
“In lower elevations drought-like conditions have been created due to dry and warm weather which will cause mortality in new plantations and especially in sunny areas canker and sunburn issues will be more prevalent. Woolly aphids, white scale canker, have started to take the epidemic form,” he added.
Himachal Tourism Stakeholders Association president Mohinder Seth echoed the sentiment, saying the dry spell and warmer climate have not only begun affecting rabi crops, they have also cast a grim shadow on the state’s winter tourism.
“Right now the luxury hotels have online booking up to 70% and booking may go higher if it snows on Christmas. But certainly, the walk-in tourists visiting the hilly destination are anxious about the dry spell. It is bound to impact the smaller hoteliers,” he said.
Agriculture department joint director Sameer Sharma, meanwhile, said reports have been sought from fields to assess the situation.
MeT’s Sharma said the warm conditions can be attributed to the absence of strong western disturbances (WD), a climate phenomenon that brings rain and snow to the western Himalayan region in winter.
Nights from the dry spell have been warmer at popular tourist towns, including the state capital Shimla, Dalhousie and Kufri than the lower hills and plains in Himachal Pradesh.
Though the MeT has forecast clear weather for at least the next four days, there is a yellow weather alert for moderate to dense fog and cold waves in Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur on Monday.
Areas in the tribal Lahaul-Spiti, Keylong, Kalpa in Kinnaur were some of the coldest places in the state over the weekend.
