European blackberries cultivated in Uttarakhand

CHAFFI - The agricultural experts in Uttarakhand have for the first time successfully cultivated European blackberries and are now encouraging the farmers to grow them on a large scale.

Grown for the first time at a floricultural park belonging to the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCOL) here, the agricultural experts are now planning to grow the fruit on a large scale.

The temperature requirement for blackberries is as low as two degree Celsius, but not higher than 30 degrees Celsius. Such conditions can easily be fulfilled in the cold hilly terrains of Uttarakhand.

Sudhir Chaddha, an agricultural expert and Director of Floricultural Park said cultivating the fruit on a large scale has great commercial potential.

“If I tell you about the potential, then both the blackberry and raspberry are two such crops which we can produce here, when it is snowing in Europe. We have been told that we can grow it and freeze it, and send the fruit to them since they can’t grow it there in that weather,” said Chaddha.

“We can grow the fruit two months before them. This is our biggest advantage with blackberry,” he added.

The experts are also planning to distribute blackberry plants to local farmers for large-scale cultivation.

“We will grow it in thousands but we would still ask the farmers to grow it within the boundaries of their fields, or grow them in their fields in two or three hedges. We are planning to give the blackberry plants to about 200-400 farmers, and then we will train them as to how to grow them,” said Chaddha.

Blackberries are prepared into jellies, pies, wine and vinegar, and can be consumed directly when ripe. (ANI)