Garlic crop has been prepared in various districts of Himachal Pradesh including district Kullu. Garlic is reaching the mandis of many districts for sale. Due to the high price of garlic in the beginning of the season, the faces of farmers have come as a surprise. The demand for garlic of the state is high in South India and abroad. Digging of garlic has also started in the district.
Growers are quite excited about the price of garlic being good during the Corona period. Besides district Kullu, garlic is also produced in Sirmaur, Solan and Mandi. Sirmour is the largest producer of garlic in the state. Kullu ranks second in garlic production. Farmers are expected to continue the boom throughout the season as the crop gets good prices at the beginning of the season.
Farmers Anoop Thakur, Anish, Naveen, Gyan Thakur, Roshan Lal, Anoop Bhandari and Jaichand say that garlic production is 25 per cent lower this year than last year. Farmers say that there is a fall in yields in the winter due to lack of timely rains and snowfall. Garlic is being produced in about 3900 hectares of land in the state. On an average 58000 metric tons of garlic is produced. Garlic is grown on 1200 hectares of land in district Kullu. The district produces 19000 MT of garlic.
Getting better prices
Thakur, president of Mohan Lal Bandrol Aadhati Association, says that due to low production, farmers are getting better prices of garlic. Garlic is not yet available in local mandis. But in other districts of the state, A-category garlic is being sold from 80 to 100 rupees.
Crop is ready in nine months
Garlic is ready in nine months. This requires more effort. In this, a lot of expenditure has to be incurred on labor in composting, weeding and extracting. Crores are traded in district Kullu.
This news has not been edited by Apni Kheti staff but has been published by various news feeds
Source: Amar Ujala