Dragon fruit to be cultivated in HP from 2025 on massive scale

Shimla: With the recent announcement by the CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Himachal Pradesh will become the first state to make a concrete horticulture policy, aiming to enhance horticulture produce in the state and convert it into the ‘fruit bowl ‘of India. As per the ‘Shiva Project,’ dragon fruit will also be planted along with other fruits.

Dragon fruit plants will be grown in the state under the project, starting in 2025, as per Ashish Sinha, a farmer from Kangra. He met Sukhu in Shimla and delivered him a dragon fruit as a gift. He said that 60 lakh fruit plants will be sown on 6,000 hectares of land from 2025 to 2028, including dragon fruit. In Kangra district, Ashish’s happiness knew no bounds when he saw grown dragon fruit on his farm.

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He, along with his family, started growing dragon fruit with the help of the horticulture department, and he is now inspiring others to earn a huge amount of money. Ashish Rana lives in Ghad Jarot in Nagarota Surian and farms dragon fruit with his father.

After getting a civil engineering degree, he contacted the horticulture department in the state and planted 450 dragon fruit plants on six kanal of land. Last year, they produced about 1300 quintals of dragon fruit. Ashish said that they grew the crop in a completely organic way, which has led to high demand in other states.

Deputy Director of the Horticulture Department, Dr. Kamalsheel Negi, said that dragon fruit was mainly produced in other states before, but due to its medicinal properties, demand has grown in Himachal Pradesh. The state government is encouraging farmers to grow it, and the department is working to promote its cultivation.