Farmers to pay double the cost of Italian walnut plants
Subhash Rajta
Tribune News Service
Shimla, January 29
The Horticulture Department has nearly doubled the cost of a walnut plant from Rs 775 to Rs 1,500 this year. Farmers will have to shell out more money for apple plants as well — as against Rs 240 last year, an apple plant will cost Rs 355 this year. These plants were imported from Italy last year under the World Bank-funded Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project, and are being offered to cluster farmers now after being kept in the post-entry quarantine facilities.
“Who will buy a walnut plant for Rs 1,500,” asked a shocked Kullu farmer. “On the one hand, the government says it wants to make Himachal the fruit bowl of the country, and on the other, it is making the cost of planting material beyond the reach of farmers,” he said.
Hemchand Sharma, Joint Director, Horticulture, said that the World Bank guidelines were the reason behind the massive hike in the cost of planting material. “As per the World Bank conditions, we can’t subsidise the cost of the planting material. We need to offer it to the farmers at the cost we bought it,” he added.
But wasn’t the planting material being subsidised so far? “The department did offer some subsidy to the farmers last year, but the World Bank objected to it. So, this time we are forced to withdraw the subsidy and offer plants at the purchase price,” said Sharma. “The only subsidy available under the HPHDP is on irrigation. The irrigation system will be set up free of cost for all clusters in the state,” he added.
With no subsidy available, the apple planting material will cost much more from next year, as it is being imported from the USA this year. “The planting material from the USA is definitely going to cost a lot more as it’s of higher quality,” said Sharma.
According to a senior Horticulture Officer, who is part of the team currently in the USA to import the planting material of temperate fruits, an imported apple plant will cost anywhere between Rs 700 and Rs 800. In case it’s not subsidised, the farmers will have to pay almost double the price of what they are paying this year for an apple plant.
