Chief Secy urges promotion of High-Density Apple Orchard Scheme

my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 16 Jan: A meeting regarding the High-Density Apple Orchard Scheme was held on Friday at the Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan, with senior government officials in attendance. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary discussed with officials ways to increase the production of apple, kiwi, and dragon fruit in the state. He also held detailed deliberations on Uttarakhand’s production capacity in comparison to national production levels and those of other states.
The Chief Secretary stated that under the High-Density Apple Orchard Scheme, large-scale efforts are required to establish orchards of the latest apple varieties. For this, he emphasised encouraging farmers in the districts to adopt a cluster-based approach. He said that the objective of the scheme is to promote apple production in the state and enhance farmers’ income. There is significant potential to expand the apple cultivation area in Uttarakhand, which would prove to be an important step toward increasing the production of apple, kiwi, and dragon fruit in the state.
He directed officials to assess the state’s production capacity—particularly apple productivity—to enhance the output of apple, kiwi, and dragon fruit. He said that production targets should be fixed for the years 2030, 2040, and 2050, in accordance with district-wise production potential, and the scheme should be implemented on the ground accordingly. The Chief Secretary also directed that, on the lines of the cold storage facility at Jhala (Harsil, Uttarkashi), cold storages should be developed in other regions of the state as well. This would enable farmers to market apples and other produce during the off-season and earn better returns.
The Chief Secretary noted that in most areas of the state, farmers are still cultivating old varieties with low productivity. These need to be replaced with high-density apple plants. He instructed that large-scale farmer outreach be undertaken in this direction. Keeping future demand in view, he also directed that nurseries be upgraded and developed on a large scale to produce high-density plants. He further said that a Project Management Unit (PMU) should be constituted to provide full-time technical support so that the scheme can be implemented effectively on a large scale. This would also ensure continuous monitoring to make the scheme successful at the ground level.
On this occasion, Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, Dr V Shanmugam, Dr SN Pandey, and other senior officials were present.