Kotgarh: Focusing on improving quality and quantity of apple producing methodologies, Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) organized a days’ workshop here at Thanedhar, Kotgarh that was attended by scientists and fruit growers.
Speaking on the occasion Gurdev Singh, director horticulture stressed upon adopting new techniques, water conservation and using better planting material for improving quality and yields.
He said that whereas late Satyanand Stokes pioneered in introducing commercial growing of apple as a cash crop from Kotgarh but it was time to revisit the subject as climate change and global warming has had an impact in the fruit producing belts of the state.
Plant scientist GP Upadhaya spoke about the need to keeping a check on the soil health as “we feed the soil, so the soil will feed the plant.” Constant monitoring of soil health was drawing desired results, he added.
TP Dutta, a former director with Indian Institute of Packaging Management made a presentation about packaging methods that has lately been introduced in the horticulture sector.
Many leading apple growers, which included Vijay Stokes, a grandson of Satyanand Stokes, participated in the workshop.
Vijay Stokes, after retiring from teaching engineering at IIT and in the US, is already experimenting with rejuvenating old orchards by re-planting them with high yielding stock trees on a large scale.
“An interactive session with apple orchard owners, representatives, scientists and officials from horticulture department proved very fruitful,” said Neeta Chauhan, CII’s zonal head at Shimla.
Discussion were held on orchard management, soil health, drip irrigation, rootstock, hill horticulture, post harvest management and cold chain, diversifying fruit growing, floriculture and growing exotic vegetables.
Ajit Butail, Member, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council assured the apple growing community that CII continue its commitment to improve the overall horticulture scenario in the state.
The industrial chamber is scheduled to hold another workshop at Kothkai, another important apple growing centre on September 8.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com | Updated on Sunday, September 04, 2011, 10:25
“Age cannot wither her nor can custom stale her infinite variety,” is what Shakespeare wrote for Cleopatra. The same, it seems, could be true for Himachal Pradesh`s `iron lady` and leader of opposition Vidya Stokes, who has been on a non-cereal diet for 50 years. No grains for this doughty, energetic 84-year-old, who eats salads, soups, vegetables and dal. And the octogenarian is growing stronger.
“This is the power of food,” Stokes told reporters in an interview. It began some five decades ago when Stokes, a Congress leader and a long-time administrator of women`s hockey, was holidaying in Europe with her husband (the late Lal Chand Stokes). “During the vacation, I decided to forgo grains,” said Stokes, a prominent apple cultivator in the region. “We were invited by an Indian friend for a dinner during our stay in Germany. A number of Europeans were also invited. One of the Europeans remarked that `Indians are literally crazy for grains. They are obsessed with sugar and white flour. They eat a lot of trash most of the time`.”
“Thereafter, I encountered a book written by American nutritionist (Gayelord) Hauser in a bookstore in Germany. As I was going through the book, I was making up my mind to forgo grains as they cause obesity, excess release of fat-promoting insulin and trigger digestive problems,” she said. She returned to India, astonishing everybody with her decision to stop eating grains. No more rice or chapatis for her. “Initially, I had to face a lot of problems, especially from my husband. He was quite upset with my decision of not savouring even non-vegetarian dishes. My family members used to laugh at me,” recalled Stokes, whose family is credited with pushing Himachal Pradesh`s apple boom. “This is my secret of staying fit and active. There are a lot of people who are regularly consuming grains that make them sick… I still don`t take medicines,” she said.
Stokes, who was power minister in Himachal Pradesh from 2003 to 2007, loves a banana or an apple with yoghurt or low-calorie biscuits in breakfast. Her lunch is usually baked vegetables and a soup. And dinner comprises `dal` and salads. But she indulges her sweet tooth, even eating a gulab jamun now and then. “After dinner every day, I yearn for a low-calorie sweet dish,” she said. Stokes believes: “If you`re not ready to give up grains, make sure you eat the best quality grains, especially organic. These can be eaten in sprouted or soaked.” Stokes` father-in-law Satyanand (Samuel Evans Stokes Junior), an American missionary, first introduced high quality apples in the Kotgarh-Thanedar belt in upper Shimla in the early 1920s. Stokes now manages most of her family`s orchards. She also loves collecting dolls, some rare ones handpicked from across the globe. She gifted some of them to the International Dolls Museum in Chandigarh.
After putting in more than four decades in state politics, Stokes, who is known in political circles for her proximity to the Gandhi family, said: “I think I should have another term. If you are physically and mentally fit, there is no harm in continuing.” “I am a soft-spoken politician… It`s my strength, not weakness. By the way, I am stronger than many others as I have no vested interests in politics,” she said. IANS
Nearly a century after it brought in an unprecedented boom in apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh, Kotgarh in Shimla district is set to usher in yet another era of sweeping horticulture reforms. A first-of-its-kind “scientifically-managed”orchard is being nurtured at the Harmony Hall (HH) Orchard after replacing ageing apple trees with imported varieties.
A first-of-its-kind “scientifically-managed”orchard is being nurtured at the Harmony Hall (HH) Orchard after replacing ageing apple trees with imported varieties. The HH Orchard is associated with the legendary Samuel Evans Stokes who planted the state’s first commercial orchard at Kotgarh in 1914. Since then, Himachal Pradesh has been synonymous with apples, producing fruits worth Rs 1,500 crore each year.
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