‘Abnormal weather cause for concern for fruit and plantations crops’
The abnormal weather patterns triggered by El Nino are a cause for concern for horticulture crops especially fruit and plantations crops, said Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticultural Sciences), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
While the Southern parts of the country are witnessing above normal temperatures, the northern belt has seen an extended winter hurting the prospects of various horticultural crops such as mango, cashew, citrus and apricots among others.
The sudden increase in temperatures is resulting in pests such as thrips and hoppers and diseases, physiological disorders and flower dropping in various crops. “These are the conditions where the pest will flourish. As a result, there will be a negative impact on the crops,” Singh said.
NEW AREA ADVANTAGE
In the South, the abnormal rise in temperatures has impacted flowering in mango and growers are facing a higher incidence of the fungal disease powdery mildew and thrips in several pockets. This could impact the crop by about 1015 per cent, Singh told businessline on the sidelines of the National Horticulture Fair 2024, organised by the ICARIIHR on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
“Though new areas have come up and that’s a big advantage for us, the crop loss will be in pockets, in certain areas where ever there was early bloom and these shifting weather pattens have caused this problem,” Singh said.
Similarly, in the coastal belts, which is witnessing rise in temperatures and higher humidity, there will be a higher incidence of tea mosquito bug in cashew plantations, Singh said. “It is an extended winter in North India. For apples it is fine, but for crops like apricots and others it is such a loss because all the flowers have been lost because of the late snowfall,” Singh said.