Anjali Pathak
Zimthung (Arunachal Pradesh)
ARUNACHAL Pradesh is emerging as India’s budding fruit paradise. It is on the threshold of outshining even Himachal Pradesh, long revered as the land of orchards. If the apple was Himachal’s money spinner, the kiwi fruit is becoming Arunachal’s mascot, fetching much more money than the apple ever did. Growing fruits and flowers has become such a lucrative business that people from all walks of life – contractors, businessmen, politicians and servicemen – are taking to it. When R D Thungdok returned to his village in Dirang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh after completing his studies, he was just another educated, unemployed young man. Thungdok did not want to search for a job in some anonymous city. He wanted to be home. An agricultural development officer from the state government talked him into cultivating tomatoes. Thungdok agreed and unwittingly pioneered tomato cultivation in Rupa.
Today, tomatoes are
grown in 90 per cent of his area, yielding high
returns to farmers.
In Zimthung, Tsering Gyurme and Bodumba are
Dirang valley’s leading growers of kiwi fruit and
apple. Bodumba was a contractor and a small
farmer. He used to grow maize, millet and buckwheat.
Disappointed with the irregular flow of contract
work and payment he chose to grow fruit in
2000. His hard work has paid off and trees in his
orchard are groaning with apple and kiwi.
Bodumba and Tsering Gyurme have large nurseries
set up with government assistance stocking apple, orange, walnut and kiwi plants. Gyurme is diversifying
his garden with peach, persimmon, pear, flowers
and orchids for which there is a demand.
Comprising East Kameng, West Kameng and
Tawang districts, western Arunachal Pradesh is
largely inhabited by the Monpas and the
Sherdukpens. They are Buddhists belonging to the
Gelugpa sect with a culture and customs very similar
to their Bhutanese neighbours to the west and
Tibetan neighbours to the north.
Their Buddhist background has inculcated a love of nature and respect for all life forms. Our travels through Kameng gave us an impression of peace, prosperity and contentment amongst the people. There is no scramble to industrialise or to sell their land and environment to MNCs, traders and profiteers. Arunachal announced an organic policy in February 2007. While its details have yet to be spelt out it is clear that the state government is responsive to the needs of the growers. It took advantage of the Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture in North Eastern States, launched in 2001-2002, and brought an additional area of 13,748 ha under horticultural crops out of which fruits comprised 52 per cent. In Kameng, the state promoted kiwi, apple, walnut, persimmon and stone fruits like plum, peach and apricot. It helped interested farmers adopt high yielding varieties. It gave them quality planting material and disseminated scientific cultivation practices.
For example, some of the subsidy that Bodumba received included planting material, fencing material, T-bar and wire for making pergolas for the kiwi vines, and creation of water tanks. Of course his business acumen and family support contributed to his success, not to forget his love for nature. In our meetings with farmers at Bomdila, Dirang and Tawang it became clear that it was those willing to experiment and take a risk who had gone in for fruit cultivation. Apple orchards at Zimthung, Sangthi-Boha Road, Domkho-Morsing area, Chilli Pam area and Jigaon area are flourishing. Zimthung, 8km. from Dirang, has around 60,000 apple trees. Tomato too has taken off. Besides Monpa families many Nepalis cultivate tomato on a lease basis. Around 20 dealers are engaged in tomato marketing. An annual turnover of Rs 3-4 crore takes place.
The tomatoes are sold in Arunachal and neighbouring Assam. But it is the kiwi fruit that is surfacing as a gold mine. Wild kiwi was always a favourite with locals. Kiwi planting material was brought to Arunachal from Himachal and now big nurseries have been set up in the Dirang valley which has emerged as the hub of kiwi cultivation. Rooted cuttings are being sold at Rs 45 per piece and grafted kiwi plants at Rs. 100 per piece. The investment for starting orchards for kiwis and apples is not very different but the returns are higher for kiwi. The wholesale price of kiwi in 2006 in Arunachal was Rs 40 per kg. This makes it more profitable than apples which merely fetch the Monpa grower Rs 15 per kg. Bodumba invested Rs 6 lakhs on his kiwi plantation of one hectare. It fetched him Rs 12 lakhs for a crop of 30 tonnes in 2006. He spent Rs 70 lakhs on his apple orchard covering 13 hectares with 14,000 trees. His apple crop of 60 tonnes for 2006 fetched him Rs 9 lakhs. Pema Chiege earned Rs 23 lakhs from his 2006 kiwi crop by selling it at Rs 60 per kg. The productivity and wholesale price of kiwi is much higher than of apples making it an attractive cash crop for the Monpa growers.
But most kiwi growers say they could earn much more if they had a better marketing network. Rinchin Droma complained that wholesalers from Guwahati wanted growers to deliver the fruit to their doorstep which was unviable. She and her husband are soon going to open a fruit preservation unit on their farm in the Dirang valley. Tsering Gyurme, the former minister for agriculture and horticulture, stated that the government is in the process of setting up a special cell to oversee organic production and marketing. With an average population density of 13 people per sq km the contribution of 37,035 tonnes of horticultural produce annually by the state is no mean feat. Greater availability of land and the absence of the monkey menace give the state a definite edge over Himachal. Fruits and flowers are preventing militancy and terrorism in Arunachal by providing meaningful employment to the young. Families are earning a good income and there is generation of farm jobs. Jhum cultivation and soil erosion is tapering off.
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