Prospects of Strawberry Cultivation in Haryana State, India
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Journal of Applied and Natural Science 10 (4): 1130 - 1133 (2018) ISSN : 0974-9411 (Print), 2231-5209 (Online) journals.ansfoundation.org Prospects of strawberry cultivation in Haryana State, India Gurpreet Singh Bachhal* Article Info Department Of Extension Education, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural DOI:10.31018/jans.v10i4.1870 University, Hisar (Haryana), India Received: August 15, 2018 Pardeep Kumar Chahal Revised: September 26, 2018 Department Of Extension Education, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural Accepted: October 10, 2018 University, Hisar (Haryana), India Pawan Kumar Department Of Extension Education, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana), India How to Cite Bachhal, G.S. et al. (2018). *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Prospects of strawberry cultivation in Haryana Abstract State, India. Journal of The study on the prospects of strawberry cultivation by the strawberry growers indicated Applied and Natural that overall prospects of strawberry cultivation were medium to high since 78 percent Science, 10(4): 1130 -1133 belonged to these categories. The study was conducted in Bhiwani and Hisar districts. Prospects were categorized into two categories i.e. production related prospects and general prospect of strawberry cultivation. Majority of farmers agreed that demand is in- creasing day by day (weighted mean score 2.78) which is an indication of innovativeness (weighted mean score 2.76), status in village (weighted mean score 2.68). The purchas- ing power of people increased (weighted mean score 2.64) The better economic returns in comparison to other fruit crops (weighted mean score 2.62) and high nutritious value of fruit (weighted mean scores 2.62) were osberved. In case Govt. provides facilities, it would take the persons to go for strawberry cultivation (weighted mean score 2.58). The food habit of people changed (weighted mean score 2.54). The high price (weighted mean score 2.52) was suitable for agro-processing (weighted mean score 2.5), whereas better export facilities available (weighted mean score 1.88), farmer friendly being easy to produce (weighted mean score 1.56), better market facilities available at present (weighted mean score 1.52) and better technical support available(weighted mean score 1.44) were not upto the desired level of prospects as perceived by strawberry growers. Keywords: Cultivation, Innovativeness, Prospects, Strawberry INTRODUCTION 98 per cent and contains various nutritionally im- portant elements. Strawberry has great dietetic Strawberry, a high-valued fruit, has gained a value and is one of the potential sources of vita- spectacular hike in the area as well as the produc- min C. In strawberry, 100 g edible portion contains tion in a developing country like India. According 89 g water, 0.07 g protein, 0.5g fats, 8.4g carbo- to the National Horticulture Board, the total area hydrates and 59m ascorbic acid. The strawberry under strawberry cultivation in Haryana was about fruit is commercially consumed both in fresh as 150 hectares with a production of 2010 MT in the well as can be preserved like Jams, Jellies and year 2016-17 (Anonymous, 2017). The cultivated Squashes that can be used in the off-season strawberry is predominantly used as fresh fruit (Galletta and Bringhurst, 1995). Owing to its deep and enjoyed by millions of people in all climates, red colour, it is a rich source of anthocyanin pos- including temperate, Mediterranean, sub-tropical, sessing high antioxidant activity (Sun et al., 2002). and taiga zones. In India, it is mainly grown in According to Guo et al. (1997), strawberry has 1.3 Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pra- times more antioxidant activity than that of orang- desh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Harya- es, twice that of red grapes and twelve times that na, Rajasthan, Delhi and the Nilgiri hills in India. of apples and bananas. A potential anti-cancer Maharastra’s Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar belt compound known as ellagic acid is found in straw- leads the country’s strawberry production berry (Basu et al., 2014). Antioxidant properties of (Anonymous, 2011-2012). strawberry have been mostly attributed to its poly- The fruit is of aggregate type, having seeds phenol and vitamin content. It is consumed in (achene) on the surface of red fleshy receptacle large quantities, either as fresh fruit or in pro- (Darnell, 2003). The edible portion of fruit is about cessed foods such as preserves, fruit juices, pies, This work is licensed under Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). © 2018: Author (s). Publishing rights @ ANSF. Bachhal, G.S. et al. / J. Appl. & Nat. Sci. 10 (4): 1130 -1133 (2018) ice creams and milk shakes. Keeping in view the by 22.5% low level and only 20.0% to high level. above facts and importance of fruit crop for coun- In nutshell, 77.5% of the respondents had pro- try as whole and Haryana state in particular, the spects of C. sinensis cultivation from medium to study was conducted to find out the prospects of high level. The study gets support from Negi strawberry cultivation technology in Haryana. (2011) who reported that prospects growth of ap- MATERIALS AND METHODS ple production can be increased in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh if modern technology, availa- To collect primary data of farmers’ adoption level bility of high quality of seeds, proper management of strawberry cultivation technology in Haryana, of labour, graders, packing and transport, market- 50 respondents were collected by applying pur- ing, better quality of pesticides, insecticides, ferti- posive technique. Among fruit growing states of lizers and proper irrigation facilities etc. are provid- India, Haryana was selected purposively being ed. direct access to investigators and Saharwa village Production related prospects of strawberry in Haryana emerging as hub of strawberry cultiva- cultivation technology: Table 2 elaborates the tion. The Hisar and Bhiwani districts were select- production-related prospects of strawberry cultiva- ed purposively due to large number of farmers, tion in which majority of the strawberry growers Saharwa from Hisar and Chanana village from agreed on better economic returns in comparison Bhiwani district were selected purposively. How- to other fruit crops with weighted mean score 2.62 ever, Saharwa village was more focused as it is (87.33%) occupying the first rank, while ‘high emerging as the hub of strawberry cultivation in price’ with weighted mean score 2.52 (84%) occu- north India. Fifty strawberry growers were select- pied second rank, followed by ‘your past experi- ed randomly. Hence, a total of 50 farmers consti- ence favouring strawberry cultivation with tuted the sample of the study. weighted mean score 2.26 (75.33%) occupying Data were collected with well structured and pre- third rank, ‘water saving crop’ with weighted mean tested interview schedule. The Schedule consist- score 2.18 (72.67%) occupying fourth rank. ed 19 items like Better economic returns in com- Whereas ‘farmer-friendly being easy to produce’ parison to other fruit crops, High nutritious value with weighted mean score 1.56 (52%) occupied of fruit, high price, suitable for agro-processing, fifth rank. It was revealed that farmers were ready etc. Responses were obtained on 3 point continu- to adopt strawberry cultivation due to better remu- um scale as Agree , Undecided and Disagree and neration. scores were given 3, 2 and 1. After that frequency Better economic returns as compared to other fruit was multiplied with the score (3, 2 or 1) and total crops and high price were major prospects of weighted score was obtained and total weighted strawberry cultivation technology due to high de- score was divided by total respondents (50) for mand and low supply in the area. The study is weighted mean score. Data was analysed with supported by Rohila et al.(2014) who reported that weighted mean score, percentage and rank order. prospects of direct seeded rice in Haryana state such as better quality of products and better eco- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION nomic return play an important role to motivate Overall prospects of strawberry cultivation and adoption. ‘your past experience favours technology: The results related to overall pro- strawberry cultivation’ was the medium prospects spects of strawberry cultivation contained in Table because seeing the better remuneration favors 1 represented that 62 per cent of the respondents crop adoption but wilting of crown of strawberry perceived medium prospects of strawberry cultiva- reduces its aspects for adoption causing the farm- tion, whereas 22 per cent of respondents per- ers replant the runners, might be responsible for ceived low prospects of strawberry cultivation and its medium level of prospects. ‘Water saving crop’ 16 per cent respondents perceived high prospects due to frequent use of irrigation at small intervals of strawberry cultivation. and ‘Farmer friendly being easy to produce’ fell Succinctly, 78% of the respondents had prospects into low level of prospects being labour intensive of strawberry cultivation technology from medium crop and high initial investment. to high level. Low level of prospects may be in General prospects of strawberry cultivation: deprivation of better technical support linked with Present study in Table 3 elaborates results per- strawberry. The present study gets support from taining to general prospects in which most of the Kumar (2016) who reported that majority of farm- farmers agreed ‘demand is increasing day by day’ ers has medium (57.5%) prospects level followed with weighted mean score 2.78 (92.67%) giving Table 1. Overall level of prospects of strawberry first rank, ‘indication of innovativeness’ with cultivation (n=50). weighted mean score 2.76 (92 %) ranked second, ‘status in village’ with weighted mean score 2.68 S. N. Prospects level Frequency Percentage (89.33%) was ranked third, whereas fourth rank 1. Low (32-39) 11 22 was given to ‘purchasing power of people is in- 2.