Erratic weather puts a damper on pear yield in Kashmir

The harvest of pear in Kashmir begins next month but growers aren’t hopeful of a bountiful pear fruit this year due to various factors

The erratic weather this year has spoiled the prospects of a good pear yield in Kashmir this season.

Last year also, pear failed to fetch good price in the fruit mandies outside Jammu and Kashmir (HT Photo)

The harvest of pear in Kashmir begins next month but growers aren’t hopeful of a bountiful pear fruit this year due to various factors. Last year also, pear failed to fetch good price in the fruit mandies outside Jammu and Kashmir. The growers fear this year too, pear crop could face another lean year leading to a drop in business.

After apples and walnuts, pears are grown over thousands of hectares of land in Kashmir, especially in Baramulla and Budgam districts due to its moderate temperature. As per statistics revealed by the Horticulture Department, pears are grown over more than 14,161 hectares of land in Kashmir and production is more that 85,565 metric tonnes (MTs).However, fulfilment of this production target depends on the harvest and weather patterns.

“We won’t have too much pear this season as the weather played a spoilsport. First it was dry season in February and March, then continuous rains and low temperature and then spells of hailstorm and rain storms effected the flowering and initial crop,” said Fayaz Ahmad, president of Asia’s second largest fruit mandi at Sopore in Baramulla district. “Last year we have a very bad season for pear due to drop in the rates and again we are facing similar fate. Although pear will start arriving at the mandi from the next month, majority of growers say they have lost much of the production due to weather vagaries,” he said.

Shabir Ahmad, a grower from north Kashmir’s Uri said that pear crop isn’t good this year. “It isn’t even the half what we had last year. The weather wasn’t favourable in the initial months and some pockets where pears are grown received back-to-back hailstorms,” he said, adding that orchards have very less pear yield this season. “Now our hope is on good market,” he added. In Kashmir, more than half a dozen varieties of pears are grown and some varieties fetch around ₹ 1,500 to ₹2,000 per box.

William, Nakh, Vicar Of Wakefield, Goshbagu are most sought-after types of pears in demand. Of late several new high-density plant varieties of pear were provided to growers by experts of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology has helped to improve production by introducing varieties like early Desire, Lucas And William Barttlet.

This year the stone fruits especially cherry have also got delayed and growers say there is less production compared to previous years. The cherry harvesting season begins mid-May and lasts up to the first week of July. As per estimates of J&K’s horticulture department, cherry is being cultivated on around 2,800 hectares, which yields an annual turnover of around ₹ 130 to ₹ 150-crore. Though cherry is grown ubiquitously in the Valley, the major produce comes from central and northern Kashmir. The UT’s annual production of the stone fruit is around 12,000 to 14,000 metric tonnes, depending upon the weather conditions in the winter and spring. “This year weather had been erratic in the winter and early spring with warmer temperatures and cold days,” said Saifudin Khan a grower from Tangmarg. Officials in the horticulture department said the production had reached around 11,289 and 11,789 metric tonnes in 2017 and 2018, respectively. In 2019 and 2020, the cherry production had also been around 12,000 MT, as per the official estimates. Last two years also saw production crossing 10,000 MT each year.