One apple a day keeps the doctor away. Indians have been sourcing their apple from either Himachal Pradesh or Kashmir. Now, the two states have a competitor – Uttarakhand, where Nainital district administration has of late, been promoting apple cultivation in a big way.

The fruit belt of Nainital district – the Ramgarh area – is renowned for its seasonal fruits, and apple is an addition to peaches and plums – the usual fruits grown here. They used to have apple orchards a long time ago but vagaries of weather took their toll on the crop. A large number of people quit farming altogether and started other businesses. As a result, horticulture tourism suffered.

But things are beginning to look upon with the initiatives of Nainital DM Mr. Dhiraj Singh Garbiyal, and horticulture tourism is all set to revive. Mr. Garbiyal, a 2009 batch IAS officer, has taken it upon himself to turnaround the dying horticulture industry and, with that view in sight, he has initiated hi-tech nurseries of apple on the barren lands of Ramgarh. He has made available to the nursery saplings of superior species imported directly from Europe. The farmers are happy as the same plants that they had to buy from Himachal at the rate of Rs. 500 per plant, are now available locally at Rs. 100 per plant.

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THE PLAN

In an exclusive interview to Indian Masterminds, Mr. Dhiraj Singh Garbiyal pointed out that making saplings available locally is not only cost effective but also cuts out the farmers’ dependence on other states.  “Unless you have the local horticulture department or any other government nursery giving you plants at cheaper rates, farmers have no other alternative but to buy the same from outside the state. Here, they were totally dependent on Himachal and Kashmir, that is why we took this initiative.” As part of the plan, machines were used on the barren lands to make them horticulture friendly. And once they were ready, the foundation stone of a modern farm was laid. Apple saplings from Holland have been planted in the nursery which will introduce improved varieties of apple to the area.

Implementation

The nursery is spread out over an 8-acre land and has around 2500 saplings of apple which also include famous varieties like Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Gail Gala, DeCarly, Honey crisp, etc. For irrigation purposes, a drip irrigation system and a 65000-litre tank have been installed. Trellis have also been built to support the plants.

Objective

The main objective of DM Garbiyal is to establish Nainital firmly in the horticulture tourism map. He believes that the linking of horticulture with tourism will benefit the residents, too. As per the state government’s horticulture tourism plan, visitors to the district are to be taken to the apple nursery, where eight cottages are to be setup for tourists to stay and enjoy life amidst apple orchards. A café and a training centre are also in pipeline.

It’s the beginning of a new era of horticultural tourism in Nainital. Blooming apple orchards will, no doubt, attract tourists by the droves, to come and spend some time in their midst.