A farmer from Himachal Pradesh has developed an innovative self-pollinating apple variety that does not require long chilling hours for flowering and fruit setting. This has spread to plain, tropical, and subtropical areas in various parts of India, where the temperature is as high as40 -45 ºC during summer.
Commercial cultivation of this apple variety has been initiated in Manipur, Jammu, low lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and fruit setting has been expanded to 23 states & UTs so far.
Shri Hariman Sharma, a progressive farmer, hailing from Paniala village of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, who developed this innovative apple variety – HRMN 99 has become a source of inspiration not only for thousands of farmers in the region but also for horticulturists of Bilaspur and other lower hill districts in the State –areas which earlier could never dream of growing apples. Orphaned during childhood, Hariman was adopted and raised by his Uncle. He studied till class X and thereafter committed himself to farming which is his main source of income. His interest in horticulture egged him on to grow different fruits like apple, mango, pomegranate, kiwi, plum, apricot, peach, and even coffee. The most interesting part of his farming practice is that he can grow apples along with mango in the same field. He strongly believes that farmers can start raising apple orchards in the lower valleys of Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere too.
In 1998, Hariman Sharma had purchased some apples for consumption from Ghumarwin village, Bilaspur, and had discarded the seeds in his backyard. In 1999, he observed an apple seedling in his backyard, developed from the seeds disposed of by him in the previous year. Being an innovative farmer with a keen interest in horticulture, he could sense that an apple plant growing at a warm place like Paniyala, situated 1,800 feet from sea level, was extraordinary. After a year, the plant started blooming, and he observed fruits in 2001. He preserved the plant as “mother plant” and started experimenting by grafting the scion (young shoot)and by 2005 created a mini orchard of apple trees which continue to bear fruits till today.
From 2007 to 2012, Hariman went around convincing others that growing apple in low chilling conditions is no longer impossible. However, not much interest was evinced in the research and dissemination of the variety. Eventually, the innovative variety was scouted by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. NIF verified the claims of the innovator and evaluated the distinctiveness and potentiality of the variety by facilitating molecular & diversity analysis studies and fruit quality testing.
NIF also provided financial and technical support for establishing and expanding the nursery, besides aiding the registration of the variety under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001. During 2014-2019, the Multi-location trials of the variety in low chilling areas across the country were conducted by NIF by transplanting over 20,000 saplings at over 2,000 farmers’ fields and 25 organizations in 30 states, including Rashtrapati Bhawan. Fruit setting has been reported from 23 states, and UT’s so far. These are Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Pondicherry, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
During further analysis and research, it was observed that HRMN-99 plants having 3-8 years of age produced 5 to 75 kg fruits per plant per year in four districts of lower Himachal Pradesh, Sirsa (Haryana) and Manipur. It is bigger in size as compared to other varieties, with very soft, sweet, and juicy pulp and striped red over yellow skin colour during maturity.
Commercial cultivation of this variety was initiated at twenty-six farmers’ fields at eight different locations of Bishnupur, Senapati, Kakching districts of Manipur in the year 2015 by NIF along with other Institutions wherein farmers were provided the requisite training on best practices for successful apple cultivation. A farmer from Manipur has received recognition at various platforms for his outstanding work on adoption of HRMN-99apple cultivation. Capitalizing upon the ongoing success in Manipur, 200 more farmers commercially adopted the variety, and more than 20,000 plants of HRMN 99apple variety are being grown in the state. Commercial adoption of this variety has also been initiated in Jammu, low-lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) under North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of DoNER, Govt of India, and NIF had entered intoaMoUin November 2020. In the first phase, 15000 graftings of the variety have been transplanted in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam Manipur, and Meghalaya during January 2021.
Shri Hariman Sharma has also been conferred a National Award in 2017 during the 9th National Biennial Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge awards by then Hon’ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
மலர்வதற்கும், கனியாவதற்கும் அதிக குளிர்ந்த நேரங்கள் தேவைப்படாத வகையில் சுய மகரந்தச் சேர்க்கையில் வளரும் புதுமையான ஆப்பிள் வகையை இமாச்சலப் பிரதேசத்தைச் சேர்ந்த விவசாயி ஒருவர் உருவாக்கியுள்ளார்.
கோடைக்காலத்தில், 40 முதல் 45 டிகிரி செல்சியஸ் வரை வெப்பம் நிலவும் இந்தியாவின் பல்வேறு பகுதிகளிலும் இந்த ஆப்பிள் விளைகிறது.
மணிப்பூர், ஜம்மு, இமாச்சலப்பிரதேசம், கர்நாடகா, சத்தீஸ்கர், தெலங்கானா ஆகிய மாநிலங்களில் வணிக ரீதியாக இந்த ஆப்பிள் வகையைப் பயிரிடும் பணி தொடங்கப்பட்டுள்ளதோடு, புதுச்சேரி உள்ளிட்ட 23 மாநிலங்கள் மற்றும் யூனியன் பிரதேசங்களில் கனியாகும் தருவாயில் உள்ளது.
இமாச்சலப்பிரதேசத்தின் பிலாஸ்பூர் மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள பனியாலா கிராமத்தைச் சேர்ந்த முற்போக்கு விவசாயியான ஹரிமன் ஷர்மா, ‘ஹெச் ஆர் எம் என் 99’ என்ற புதிய ஆப்பிள் வகையை உருவாக்கி இதர விவசாயிகளுக்கு ஊக்கமளித்துள்ளார்.
இந்திய அரசின் அறிவியல் மற்றும் தொழில்நுட்பத் துறையின் கீழ் தன்னாட்சி நிறுவனமாக இயங்கும் தேசிய புதுமை அமைப்பு இந்த புதிய கண்டுபிடிப்பிற்கு நிதி மற்றும் தொழில்நுட்ப ஆதரவை அளிக்கிறது. கடந்த 2014-19 ஆம் ஆண்டு வரையில், குறைந்த குளிர் பிரதேசங்கள் கண்டறியப்பட்டு, குடியரசுத் தலைவர் மாளிகை உட்பட பல்வேறு இடங்களில் சுமார் 20000 கன்றுகள் நடப்பட்டன.
3 முதல் 8 ஆண்டுகளான தாவரங்கள், இமாச்சலப் பிரதேசம், ஹரியானா மற்றும் மணிப்பூர் மாநிலங்களில் ஆண்டிற்கு ஒரு மரத்திலிருந்து 5-75 கிலோ பழங்களைத் தந்துள்ளது. பிற ஆப்பிள் வகைகளுடன் ஒப்பிடுகையில் இந்தப் புதிய வகை ஆப்பிள்கள் அளவிலும், சுவையிலும், நிறத்திலும் மேம்பட்டு இருப்பது பல்வேறு ஆராய்ச்சிகளில் தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.
–Dr.துரைபெஞ்சமின்.
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