Strawberry Cultivation: a Lucrative Farming Prospect for Youth - a Case Study
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Popular Article Popular Kheti Volume -6, Issue-2 (April-June), 2018 Available online at www.popularkheti.com © 2018 popularkheti.com eISSN: 2321-0001 Strawberry Cultivation: A Lucrative Farming Prospect for Youth - A Case Study Monika Kundu*1, Surya Tushir 2, Sandeep Mann 3 and Anil K. Dixit 4 1Scientist, Electronics and Instrumentation, Agricultural Physics Division, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi 2Scientist, Agricultural Microbiology, FGOP Division, ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana 3Principal Scientist, Agricultural Structure & Environment Management, AS&EC Division, ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana, India 4Principal Scientist, Agricultural Economics, NDRI, Karnal, India *Email of corresponding author: [email protected] Strawberry is one of the best natural sources of antioxidant, vitamin C, proteins and minerals like P, K, Ca, and Fe. Owing to wide climatic and soil adaptation and high returns, it has tremendous potential in India. Its cultivation can be extended to other suitable areas having assured irrigation and transport facilities. In the present study, various agroclimatic features of Saharwa village of Hisar district in Haryana State were studied and various techniques were applied to assess the system and explore the opportunities for future. Introduction Strawberry ( Fragaria vesca ) is an important fruit crop of India and its commercial production is possible in temperate and sub-tropical areas of the country. In India, it is cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas like Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Nilgiri hills, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The cultivated strawberry is actually an herbaceous perennial plant. Strawberry is one of the best natural sources of antioxidant, vitamin C, proteins and minerals like P, K, Ca, and Fe. Owing to wide climatic and soil adaptation and high returns, it has tremendous potential in India. Its cultivation can be extended to other suitable areas having assured irrigation and transport facilities. In the present study, various agroclimatic features of Saharwa village of Hisar district in Haryana State were studied and various techniques were applied to assess the system and explore the opportunities for future. The village Saharwa is located at a distance of 28 km from Hisar district. It is situated at Latitude: 28°55'13'' N, Longitude: 75°44'33'' E and Altitude 204 m. Over the time it has emerged as a strawberry hub in North India and become the second largest producer of strawberry in India after Mahableshwaram (Pune). The village topography can be classified in to Plain and Sand dunes area. The village could be distinguished into two zones, viz. , cropped and residential area. While the residential area is situated in middle of village which are plain and agricultural fields are placed in plains as well in sand dunes. Major crops grown in this village in kharif season are Guar, Bajra and Bt-cotton and in rabi season are wheat, mustard and Bengal gram. Along with climatological and geographical data given in Table 1, the relative humidity varies from 5-100% throughout the year. The story of this exotic fruit crop in village Saharwa started with the plantation of strawberry in one acre sandy soil in 1995 (Diwan et al ., 2010). Earlier, the farmers of the village were growing other traditional crops like wheat, mustard, bajra, etc. After the bumper Popular Khet i ISSN: 2321 -0001 45 Kundu et al ., 2018, Pop. Kheti , 6(2): 45 -50 Popular Article result of crop in one acre of land, some more farmers started cultivation of strawberry as a crop and again the result was same and they got huge profit. Nutritional Value of Strawberry Strawberry is low in calories (32 cal/100 g) and fats but rich source of health promoting phyto- nutrients, minerals, and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Fresh berries are an excellent source of vitamin-C. The fruit is rich in B-complex group of vitamins. Strawberries contain vitamin A, vitamin E and health promoting flavonoid poly phenolic antioxidants such as lutein, zea-xanthin, and beta-carotene in small amounts. Furthermore, they contain good amount of minerals like potassium, manganese, fluorine, copper, iron and iodine (USDA data). Table 1: Agroclimatic data of Saharwa village Geographical details District Hisar Total area 2262 ha Cultivable area 2030 ha Net cultivable area 1779 ha Soil characteristics Soil PH Neutral to slightly alkaline Soil type Sandy loam, sand dunes/loamy Main irrigation source B.N.C Canal(Siwani Nahar Pariyojana) Climatological parameters Mean annual rainfall 450 mm Min annual temp 4-6°c Max annual temp 40-44 °c Status of the Village (study period) In the village Saharwa, the area under strawberry cultivation was increased from 30 acres (2005-06) to 98 acres (2010-11) and the magnitude of increase was 226.6 per cent which indicated the popularity of this crop among farmers. The farmers of Saharwa village were cultivating the strawberry crop in about 150 acres of land. On average bases, a farmer was getting Rs.1.25 lac to 1.50 lac net returns per acre from the cultivation of strawberry crop. In the month of the April, when the strawberry crop is over, farmers were sowing other vegetables on the same beds with the help of drip & sprinkler irrigation methods which augmented their income. The growers of strawberry not only fetching the remunerative income from this enterprise, but also providing employment opportunities to about 150 persons on regular basis and about 60 persons on part time basis. To meet out the huge demand of packaging material for strawberry fruits, a progressive farmer of this village started the manufacturing of packing kits and for this purpose he has established a small scale industry in the village and providing the regular employment to 7-8 unemployed rural youths of this village. Various varieties of strawberry were being grown in Saharwa village (Table 2). To collect data about the various agroclimatic features of this village we used various Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques, like PGIS (Participatory Geographic Information System) to collect data points of milestones and then drawing a map of the village. During transact walk in village various pathways and waypoints were noted and later the boundary map along with all such points were drawn using GPS Receiver and GIS. This can be used for ground truthing of village data and various resources. This is an integration of PRA with GIS technology. This clearly depicts the resources and boundary of Saharwa village (Fig. 1). Popular Khet i ISSN: 2321 -0001 46 Kundu et al ., 2018, Pop. Kheti , 6(2): 45 -50 Popular Article Table 2.Various varieties of strawberry being grown in Saharwa village Strawberry Technology adoption Reasons Varieties behavior Sweet Actively Adopted Early Maturing variety, plants are small and compact Charlie making picking relatively easy, deliciously sweet, high yield and shape Chandler Adopted Early maturing variety, fruit sweet and sour in taste, brilliant red color, glossy, more shelf life and high -yielding Ofra Recently Introduced Early maturing variety, fruit is juicy and sweet in taste Winter Recently Introduced Late maturing variety, resistance to crown rot, produce Dawn large fruit on a relatively small plant Camarosa Recently Introduced Very flat conic, productive, good appearance, very firm, good taste Fig.1. PGIS (Participatory Geographic Information System) Map of Saharwa village Major Factors Affecting Strawberry Cultivation Electrical conductivity of water : EC is a measurement of how much electric current can pass through a water sample. Fresh water has a low EC because it does not contain many salts; the more salt the water contains the higher the EC. EC is a quick way to measure the total salts in the soil, bo th 'good' salts for the irrigator like nitrate and potassium and 'bad' salts like sodium and chloride. Irrigation water should have an EC of less than 0.8 dS/m (500 mg/L). Water with an EC of between 0.8 and 2.3 dS/m (500 -1500 ppm) is considered marginal f or irrigation. The water will not taste salty, but salt levels will build up quickly in the soil and need to be managed carefully. Water with an EC greater than 2.3 dS/m (1500 mg/L) is generally not suitable for irrigation. In Saharwa village , the water used for irrigation in strawberry fields has EC <500 mg/L, which is good quality irrigation water. Soil water has a higher EC than irrigation water because of dissolved nutrients. In addition the salts in the irrigation water tend to accumulate in the soil. Salt concentrates in the soil water if there is no downwards leaching, because plants transpire fresh water and leave the sodium and chloride behind in the root zone. Crops that are sensitive to salt, may experience reduced yield when the EC o f the soil water increases above 1 to 1.5 dS/m. Crops more tolerant to salt, can tolerate EC levels between 3 and 6 dS/m without much harm. Crops tolerant to salt, can withstand EC levels over 7 dS/m. Popular Khet i ISSN: 2321 -0001 47 Kundu et al ., 2018, Pop. Kheti , 6(2): 45 -50 Popular Article Soil type: Sandy loam to loamy soil with pH 5.7-6.5 is ideal for cultivation. In Saharwa village, sandy loam soil represents the predominant soil type constituting 70-80 percent of the total geographical area with the rest constituted by black, alluvial and sandy soils. There are sand dunes in canal command area. The strawberry can be grown on any type of soil—poor sand to heavy clay—provided proper moisture, organic matter and drainage is present. Strawberry ripens somewhat earlier on sandy soil than on clay soil. The ideal condition for strawberry cultivation is sandy loam to loamy soil with pH 5.7-6.5 and a proper water drainage system.