Rockit apples

Can we Develop our horticulture career at our new Gisborne orchard
From kids to elite athletes, the snack size apples from New Zealand help people around the world Rockit every day. Convenient and healthy, they come in a handy recyclable tube you can take everywhere. Rockit began as a tiny seed of an idea 20 years ago. While the rest of the world was super-sizing, New Zealand created the perfect snack size apple, packed with concentrated flavour and goodness. Then they thought different again, and put them in a tube that’s 100% convenient and 100% recyclable. And grow in 10 countries worldwide. The apples are fresh all year they claim. This year the tube of five apples has been sold for three hundred and fifty rupees in Mumbai. The central government is utilizing funds in this sector this year for the Development of Jammu and Kashmir. Apple succeeds best in regions where the trees experience uninterrupted rest in winter and abundant sunshine for good colour development. It can be grown at an altitude of 1500- 2700 m above the sea level. Well-distributed rainfall of 1000-1250 mm throughout the growing season is most favourable for optimum growth and fruitfulness of apple trees. The Jammu and kashmir is famous in india for the produce of Golden Delicious (Late Season), Lal Ambri, Mollies Delicious, kulu, Starkrimson, Red June, Irish Peach, Benoni and Tydeman’s Early etc. This year the imported apples from Iran, turkey, New Zealand etc are displayed with the care of higher shelves, while Kashmir and Himalayan apples languish poorly presented, at a lower level . The Indian apples are much cheaper than imported ones, and yet consumers don’t care for them much. For all that India grows so many apples, we have never really taken them to heart.
Consumers want sweet crisp apples that are consistent and this is hard to achieve with traditional techniques. This year, apple prices have crashed drastically and are at a 10 -year low. The scheme, called Modified High-Density Plantation, was launched recently by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s administration in collaboration with National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED). Under the scheme, imported root stocks can be availed by farmers on subsidy along with easy loans to improve the quality and yield in their orchards and also to spend negligible amount on weeds and pesticides, besides early bearing of disease-free fruit. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are expecting that the local growers to be involved for the for identification of Modified High Density plants and can be facilitated to vist abroad for the understanding of spectrum and sizer technology which is used to produce Rock it Apples.
(The author is RTI activist and a freelancer. Views are his own)
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