Pulwama, Nov 16: Experts from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Malangpora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district have urged orchardists to avoid using unskilled persons for the pruning of apple trees. They said pruning is an important activity that has a significant impact on the overall health and hygiene of an apple tree.
“Pruning is a skill and a person hired for this job should be well versed with the technique so that he is able to keep a balance between vegetative and reproductive growth of a fruit tree,” Dr Javid Ahmad Mugloo, head KVK Malangpora, told Rising Kashmir. He said that through pruning excessive vegetative growth is regulated besides ensuring the removal of diseased branches and parts of a fruit tree.
“Regulating vegetative growth reduces the nutritional requirement for the tree,” he said, adding that they have been sensitising farmers with the right technique by visiting different blocks of Pulwama for the last couple of weeks.
“Around 150 apple growers were given onsite training on pruning in 5 blocks of Pulwama,” Dr Javid said. He advised farmers to delay pruning if their orchardists are in an active phase of growth. He advised the insertion of a slant cut over the horizontal one so that moisture doesn’t get accumulated over the cut area. He said moisture accumulation triggers infection at the cut site.
Dr Jahangir, Pomologist at KVK Malangpora, said there are certain Dos and Don’ts that should be kept in mind while pruning. He explained that once a shoot is cut the action can’t be undone so before training and pruning a tree one should visualise the results of his action.
“A plant should be trained in such a way that it develops a strong framework to bear snow or fruit load very well. Pruning should ensure space in the tree canopy for spray, sunlight, and ventilation,” he said, adding that Chaubatia paste should be applied to large wounds.
He also advised that unskilled persons should be avoided from pruning apple trees. “Pruning should be avoided when the temperature becomes subzero,” he said while advising not to induce large cuts as it can cause shock to the tree.
Dr Jahangir said that secateurs should be sterilised with hydrogen peroxide or boiled in hot water. The pomologist said that apple mosaic, a viral infection, spreads from a diseased plant to a healthy one through the use of infected secateurs.
