Currently, gardeners are covering the stumps with wire mesh and jute bags as shields
Srinagar:
Thousands of farmers in the Kashmir Valley are facing a new and unusual enemy for their livelihoods – the porcupine – a large, spiny rodent that is attacking almond and apple trees.
Currently, gardeners are using wire mesh and jute bags to cover the stumps. Fruit trees have become a target during the winter months, the farmers said.
Ghulam Nabi Dar, a farmer in Pulwama, said: “It attacks trees during winter – it peels off the bark of fruit trees. The tree eventually dies within a year. .
The farmers said that all their hard work to grow fruit trees for many years together was suddenly destroyed.
“We’ve been gardening all our lives. It takes 10 to 15 years to plant a tree. When we visited here, we saw the tree was peeling off and suddenly our orchard was destroyed,” said one farmer. Others have gardens targeted by hedgehogs.
Hedgehogs are large, spiny rodents that currently attack almond and apple trees in Kashmir
One full-grown tree produces about 40 kilograms of almonds – and the loss of each tree means huge losses to the farmer. There is no exact assessment of the damage to orchards, but thousands of fruit trees are believed to be targets of hedgehogs.
The hardest hit areas are the highlands of Shopian, Pulwama and Budgam districts, where thousands of trees have been affected.
The farming industry is the backbone of the rural economy in Kashmir. Officials say they are working with experts to find ways to save the fruit trees as the number of hedgehogs has grown exponentially over the past few years.
“Over the last few years, hedgehog numbers have increased. We have contacted the Department of Wildlife to get some advice that we can share with growers. Over the past year, we have been consulting with the Department of Wildlife. growers and try to check on it,” said Ejaz Ahmad Bhat, General Manager of the Government J&K Horticulture Authority.
Experts say growing irises in orchards can be a natural hedgehog repellent. But it is not an easy task given the area and number of trees. The valley has more than seven crore apple trees on 1.62 thousand hectares of orchard land.
Although farmers’ basic measures are to cover the bark with jute bags for immediate protection, this is clearly not a long-term solution to the serious threat that orchards are facing. must face to face. To date, the government has yet to come up with a scientific response to the hedgehog challenge.
