Pulwama, Apr 04: With apple orchards in Pulwama’s plains entering the crucial pink bud stage, a majority of farmers have applied fungicides as per the advisory issued by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K).
Ghulam Hassan Sofi, a marginal farmer from Wahibugh village, told Rising Kashmir that most fruit buds in the area have reached the pink stage and orchards are likely to bloom within the next two days.
“There is a forecast of rain on April 9 and 10, which could increase the risk of apple scab. That’s why many farmers, including myself, applied fungicides on Friday as a preventive measure,” he said.
On Friday, a significant number of orchardists across the district were seen spraying fungicides in their apple orchards in response to the twin triggers of approaching bloom and imminent rainfall.
According to plant pathologists, scab infection in apple trees often results from mismanagement during the pink bud stage.
