Lucknow guava thriving in Arunachal Pradesh
LUCKNOW: Believe it or not, the local guava that starts fruiting here in two years has started yielding fruit in Arunachal Pradesh in only nine months, much to the amazement of the local administration, district horticulture officer and others.
More than one lakh guava grafts of ICAR-CISH developed varieties reached Yachuli, 80 km away from Arunachal capital Itanagar, during the rainy season this year. Flowers and fruit could be seen on these plants this month, claimed Shailendra Rajan, director, Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture.
Rajan credited this to the efforts made by progressive farmer Likha Maj by supporting tribal organizations Agro Gramin Limited (AGUN) and Green Gold, Naharlagun (Arunanchal Pradesh) in collaboration with ICAR-CISH, Lucknow for establishing guava industry in the north-eastern region for the benefit of farming communities comprising mostly of tribals.
Likha Maj took the initiative to transport grafts from Lucknow during the rainy season, when it was difficult to reach there by truck due to landslides and damaged slippery roads, he said.
A team of 10 youngsters took to planting and rearing these grafts in more than 100 hectares and made all efforts for their survival under highly difficult conditions.
“Commercial guava cultivation is new to this state and it is not a common crop for cultivation ,” said Rajan.
After seeing such a huge plantation, about one hundred farmers were interested and started planting guava varieties transported from Lucknow.
“Maj has not only planted guava grafts but also motivated several farmers for starting its cultivation so that a sizable production takes place and the produce can be utilized for processing as a food park is in the process of approval,” director CISH said.
ICAR-Lalit, a variety developed from Lucknow, can play an important role in this area when the processing unit is ready, as it is a prime variety being used for making pink pulp from guava further used for different products as well as export.
Thousands of hectares under Lalit have come up in AP, Maharashtra and Karnataka and other states but for the first time this effort was made in the extreme North-East conditions.
The farmers regularly exchange views with scientists using plant photos taken in the field. Smartphone has played an important role in establishing linkage between the scientists from CISH-Lucknow and tribals in a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh.
CISH Lucknow has not only provided grafts but is also helping in establishment of a modern guava nursery in Arunachal so that problems faced in graft transportation are eliminated and the good quality grafted material is available at a reasonable cost to be distributed to different parts of the north-eastern region.