Punjab plans to boost daisy tangerine cultivation as an alternative to kinnow
Aimed at enhancing income of fruit growers, the state horticulture department has decided to promote daisy tangerine fruit as an alternative to the kinnow in various districts of Punjab.
Daisy is an attractive, deep orange, sweet and juicy fruit. Its harvesting period is between October and November-end and it has a higher storage value.
Horticulture department joint director of Gulab Singh Gill said 500 acres of land under citrus growing areas will be diversified with daisy cultivation in the next one year. The initiative has been taken on the recommendations of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), he added.
“Harvesting season of daisy starts in October, almost two months prior to that of the peak kinnow harvesting. This is the period when citrus fruits are in demand in the north Indian market. The conventional kinnow harvesting period coincides with peak winters when demand for juice fruits gets low, thus farmers struggle to get a fair price for their produce,” said Gill.
He said a small group of farmers in Malwa and Doaba have been cultivating daisy for the last few years but the department does not maintain variety wise cultivation data.
Punjab leads the country in the cultivation of kinnow, with the Abohar belt of Fazilka district alone contributing up to 60% to the state’s total production. The fruit is cultivated on nearly 33,000 hectares in Punjab. Last season, the Abohar belt produced more than 5 lakh tonnes of kinnow.
But the expert said the sector needs diversification to rule out any threat of crop loss due to any pest attack in future.
Director of Punjab Horticultural Postharvest Technology Centre at the PAU BVC Mahajan said besides a higher nutritional value, daisy tangerine has a handsome commercial value.
He said daisy, a cross between fortune mandarin and fremont mandarin, was first introduced in Punjab in 2006 but it did not get desired response from citrus growers for various reasons. He said as farmers have now geared up to experiment with the fruit, their feedback will decide the future of kinnow diversification.
“Initially, daisy was propagated on carizzo rootstock but it is ideal for soil with less than 6pH value. Soil in the south Malwa districts is alkaline , thus daisy was not found suitable for the region,” said Mahajan.