Such plight of apple has never been seen before: loss of more than Rs 1000 crore; The grains remained, the leaves fell a month ago

Apple plant has pimples and fallen leaves

This time in Himachal Pradesh, nature has broken the backs of apple growers. Due to the outbreak of Marsonina disease in apple orchards, leaves fell a month ago. Due to this neither the size of the apple nor the quality of the fruit could be produced. The result was that production was halved. The loss to the gardeners is estimated to be more than Rs 1000 crore.

The gardeners of the state used to produce an average of three to four crore boxes of apples every year, but this time only 1.43 crore boxes have reached the markets, while the apple season has ended in most of the areas. Overall, this time the production may be limited to between two and a quarter to two crore boxes. The biggest reason for falling production is lack of size and not good setting after flowering.

Never seen such a disease before: Visht

Progressive Growers Association (PGA) President Lokendra Bisht said that he had never seen such a plight of apples before. This time the leaves had fallen one to one and a half months ago. Along with Marshonina, there were also outbreaks of diseases like Alternaria, Bacterial Blight. Due to this, gardeners have suffered a loss worth crores.

Saw such leaf-fall for the first time: Verma

Mahendra Verma, President of Apple Producers Association, Theog, said that he has seen such leaf-fall for the first time. There is no area of ​​the state left where the outbreak of Marsonina disease has not been seen. He said that due to continuous rains the gardeners did not even get time to spray the medicines.

Due to this the leaves fell a month ago. The gardener who had 1000 boxes of apples last year. This time he has hardly got 150 to 200 boxes of apples. He has requested the Horticulture Department and Nauni University to issue an advisory regarding this.

Disease spread due to excess moisture in air: Dr. Bhardwaj

Horticulture expert Dr. SP Bhardwaj said that this time it rained continuously since March 15. Due to this, the amount of moisture in the air was more than required till the month of August. This is also the reason for the outbreak of Marsonina. He told that this time the leaves fell a month ago. Due to this, the process of food preparation of the plant was affected and the size of the apple could not be formed.

This time more outbreak was seen: Dr. Hemchand

Dr. Hem Chand, Joint Director of the Horticulture Department, said that Marsonina disease has affected the gardens many times before, but this time its outbreak was more severe. This resulted in reduction in production and quality fruit could not be produced. This time it has already caused loss, its impact can be seen next year also.