Surging mercury, pest attack has kinnow growers worried in Malwa
BATHINDA: Unusually warm weather since March — with day temperatures touching 41°C, five to seven notches above normal — and widespread attack of citrus psyllid pest have left kinnow growers and horticulture experts worried as orchards in Punjab’s south Malwa belt are seeing drastic fruit shedding in the initial stage of growth.
Punjab leads the country in the cultivation of kinnow, with Fazilka district’s Abohar belt alone contributing up to 60% to the state’s total production. The fruit is cultivated on over 37,000 hectares in the state, with Muktsar and Bathinda (both in south Malwa like Fazilka) besides Hoshiarpur (Doaba) districts being the other contributors to production.
However, orchardists in the region fear a dismal season for the state’s “king fruit” for the second consecutive year. According to HS Rattanpal, principal horticulturist, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), multiple factors have hit the prospects of citrus growers. “Kinnow farms in Doaba region’s Hoshiarpur are not much affected, but a sizeable section in Abohar and Muktsar will face a major impact of unfavourable climate and lack of irrigation facilities at the crucial juncture of fruiting,” he says.
‘Never in past 3 decades’ State awardee kinnow grower Arvind Setia says at the flowering stage, kinnow farms need temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius in Februarymarch.
“When fruit started setting in, temperature suddenly hit 38-41°C. In my 30-year career in kinnow cultivation, I have never seen temperatures rising to this level in April. Groundwater in Abohar region is saline and unfit to irrigate kinnow. Canal water supply continues to remain suspended for more than 10 days to repair the Sirhind feeder,” he says. Pardeep Dawra, a leading kinnow grower from Gidderanwali near Abohar, warns the state is set to witness the sharpest decline in kinnow production in over three decades.
“Citrus psyllid has jeopardised the mandarin crop. The pest attacks the plant in different stages. After poor production in 2021 due to alternate bearing, we were hoping to recover our losses this season. But all hopes have been dashed. I am exploring an alternative and viable crop to minimise losses,” says Dawra. Alternate bearing — a natural phenomenon — means production of an excessive crop one year followed by little or no crop the next year. Citrus psyllid is a sap-sucking pest responsible for widespread destruction of citrus fruits.
Another farmer and kinnow trader, Surinder Charaya, says the efforts of pest control failed as a sudden surge in temperature aided the fast growth of the pest. “Besides compensating kinnow growers to recover the losses for the second consecutive season, the government should task the farm scientists with exploring new citrus varieties in view of changing climatic pattern,” he says.