A
young Isaac Newton was sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the
mysterious universe. Suddenly, an apple fell on his head. While anybody else
would have started eating the luscious fruit or would have damned the thing
falling upon, the great Scientist understood the force that brought down the
apple crashing to the ground; relating it to the moon falling towards the Earth and the Earth
falling toward the sun: Gravity. “Apple” is the fruit of the apple tree,
species Malusdomestica in the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the most
widely cultivated tree fruits. The tree is small and deciduous.
The tree originated
from Central Asia, where its wild ancestor is still found today. It is grown in
million tonnes!Every mother would want her child to eat more of
green vegetables and lentils – as also fruits and apple would stand top
of the chart. Apple was often linked to
health – and fruits were bought depending on how fresh they looked. Not any longer – today people are concerned
about pesticides and chemical wax keeping their sheen.
Read
with interest that away in US, if Granny Smith apples are a little too tart for
your liking and you find Galas a little too sugary, a new apple coming to
market later this year promises to be just the right mix of tangy and
sweet.Coming to stores in December, the Cosmic Crisp apple is already
generating a lot of buzz. That's because it's been in development for over two
decades. Grown and bred by Washington State University's tree fruit breeding
program, the Cosmic Crisp is a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp apples,
but they look more like a Red Delicious.According to those who developed the
fruit, the new apple is described as being both firm and crisp, with a balanced
flavor that's a bit tarter than a Honeycrisp. The large, juicy apple is not
only good for eating plain, but its heartier texture also makes it ideal for
baking.The Cosmic Crisp website says that the apple's flavor profile will allow
chefs and home cooks to reduce sugar needed in recipes, since the apple was
cultivated to have higher levels of natural sugars.Cosmic Crisps were also
designed to last longer after being picked and, when kept at about 32 degrees,
will maintain their texture and flavor for up to 10 months.
Back home, Kashmir's
apple harvest is expected to match production in 2017-2018, say figures
released this week by the Jammu and Kashmir government's horticulture
department — belying fears that anger against the Centre's decision to end the
state's special status, as well as labour shortages and violence, were forcing
farmers to leave their fruit crop, valued at Rs 1,200 crore, to rot.The government
estimates the fruit harvest will hover around 1,956,331 metric tonnes in
2018-2019 — similar to the 1,973,326 mt recorded in 2017-2018.
Figures for trucks
with cargoes of apples, maintained at the Lakhanpur excise barrier, show 34,599
trucks crossed Jammu and Kashmir’s largest commercial transit point until 9
October, carrying over 440,000 metric tons (mt.) of fruit to nation markets:
124,000 mt. of that since 1 October alone.“We’ve seen a huge surge in fruit
shipments this past week,” said Farooq Khan, an advisor to the Jammu and
Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik. “This is partly because the crop ripened late
this year, and partly because growers have been able to hold out for better
prices, because of price-support measures introduced for the first time.”
Thursday,
government sources said, saw over 2,300 fruit trucks cross Lakhanpur, headed
for markets in New Delhi and further south. Between between 1,200 and 1,400
fruit trucks have passed through Lakhanpur each night this fortnight, figures
similar to past years.Apples are, as usual, expected to make up the
overwhelming bulk of this year's fruit production – the bulk of production comes from the districts of
Baramulla, Kupwara, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag — all politically-sensitive
areas where economic hardship could have fuelled Islamist-led mobilisation
against India.
The robust apple
harvest is rare good news for the Union government, whose decision to
de-operationalise Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status led to
educational institutions being closed since August, and crippled the tourism
industry, with several top hotels downing shutters. There have been some unfair criticism against
the Govt. The apple production figures,
some in the government believe, could be the first sign than the worm is
turning. Less than a fortnight ago, one major international newspaper reported
that 'Kashmir's apple harvest turns sour with fear and anger', one major
international newspaper had reported last month, saying fear had "left
fruit trees across the state bent with ripe, unpicked apples".
Fruit yields in
Kashmir, marked a 10 percent decline in 2016-17 and one of the reasons was
hail. Now the Govt has decided to offer
price-support for apples. The Jammu and Kashmir government and the National
Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India have partnered to ensure
floor prices for apples—peaking at ₹70
per kilo for the top superfine grade—with payments made directly to
growers’ bank accounts.This
year, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India was
for the first time involved in large-scale apple procurement, in an effort to
ensure a fair floor price for the apple harvest.
All that
augurs well for the Nation to sing – ‘kashmir, beautiful Kashmir !’.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
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