Horticulture Yield Declining in Uttarakhand | 31 May 2024

Why in News?

In 2023, extreme weather events in Uttarakhand resulted in the loss of 44,882 hectares of farmlands. As agricultural opportunities diminish, many people are migrating from the hills to the plains, potentially causing a decrease in the area dedicated to horticultural production.

Key Points

• The variations in the area of fruit production in Uttarakhand between 2016-17 and 2022-23 reveal striking shifts in cultivation patterns across different fruit types.
  • The increase in guava and gooseberry cultivation indicates a shift in focus towards fruit types better attuned to market demand or local conditions.
  • The yields of pear, peach, apricot, plum, walnut and apple have markedly decreased in the last seven years due to the significant impact of global warming on Uttarakhand's horticulture.
• Uttarakhand has experienced frequent disasters such as heavy rainfall, floods, hailstorms, and landslides, leading to substantial destruction of agricultural lands and crops.
  • The increasing temperatures are adversely affecting the cultivation of winter fruits, prompting farmers to switch to tropical options.
• According to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the short-term variability and trends in temperature are worrying and there is a need to study the long-term trends in weather variables and its relation to yield, especially, its relation with any change in crop/cropping pattern or shift in crop/cropping pattern.