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The Pharma Innovation Journal 2021; SP-10(12): 1749-1751
ISSN (E): 2277- 7695
ISSN (P): 2349-8242
NAAS Rating: 5.23
TPI 2021; SP-10(12): 1749-1751
© 2021 TPI
www.thepharmajournal.com
Received: 25-10-2021
Accepted: 27-11-2021
Wasim H Raja
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Mihin Noomphy
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture,
Regional Station, Dirang, West
Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh,
India
Gamter Bam
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture,
Regional Station, Dirang, West
Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh,
India
Sajad UN Nabi
ICAR-Central institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
OC Sharma
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
JI Mir
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
M Abbas Shah
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Madhu GS
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Corresponding Author
Wasim H Raja
ICAR-Central Institute of
Temperate Horticulture Old
Airfield, Rengreth, Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Potential and prospects of Kiwifruit production in the
state of Arunachal Pradesh
Wasim H Raja, Mihin Noomphy, Gamter Bam, Sajad UN Nabi, OC
Sharma, JI Mir, M Abbas Shah and Madhu GS
Abstract
North-eastern states in general and Arunachal Pradesh in particular, kiwifruit has bright prospects. Kiwifruit
has been assessed as one of the important future profitable fruit crops in mid hills of Himalayas. Since it
provides a high return per unit area and the farmers can earn about Rs. 4 to 5 lakhs per hectare annually. As
per the economic Survey of Arunachal Pradesh 2016-17 reports, 3379 ha of land under kiwi producing 6047
tons of fresh fruit production. Arunachal Pradesh contributes more than 50% to the total kiwi production in
the country. Despite having huge potential of kiwifruit in the region, the various limitations faced by the
farmer are the non-availability of quality planting material, skilled labours, lack of awareness regarding its
cultural practices and management especially training and pruning as well as pollination management.
Consequently, the kiwifruit produced in Arunachal Pradesh is of small size with inferior quality and thus is
not able to compete with the kiwi imported from New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and other countries.
Marketing is also the main obstacle due to the non-availability of cold storage and processing unit and other
infrastructure for the promotion of kiwifruit in the region.
Keywords: kiwifruit, North East, Arunachal Pradesh, limitation, prospects
Introduction
The kiwifruit or Chinese's gooseberry (Actinidia deliciosa Chev.) is a deciduous fruit native to
Yangtze River valley of south and central China. Kiwi is known as “China's miracle fruit” and
“Horticulture wonder of New Zealand”. The actual Origin of fruit is China, but its full
commercial potential has been exploited by the New Zealanders, which accounts for 70
percent of the world trade. Nevertheless, in other countries, the cultivation of kiwifruit picked
up momentum from 1960 onwards, and now its production is commercialized on large scale in
the USA, Italy, China, Japan, France, Germany, and Australia. Fruit of kiwi is rusty brown
with a hairy surface; the flesh is light green with a decorative pattern of lighter coloured rays
radiating from the center and embedded with many small, soft, and dark seeds. The fruit has a
refreshing, delicate flavor and delightful aroma. It has tremendous nutritive and medicinal
value, is a magnificent source of Vitamin C and E (twice that of orange and more than Guava,
Tomato, and Avocado), and is low in calories. It has higher potassium content than banana or
citrus fruits. Kiwi is locally known as ‘anteri’ though being introduced very lately in the year
2000, is gaining popularity in the mid-hill parts of Arunachal Pradesh. In recent years, Kiwi
fruit has shown enormous potential in Arunachal Pradesh and has gained huge popularity and
preference among the growers as well as consumers due to its favourable attributes for easy
maintenance besides its high nutritional and medicinal values. It has attained commercial
identity not only in the local markets but also in national markets. The cultivation of kiwifruit
has a significant benefit over other fruits that it comes in the market from October to December
when practically no other fresh fruit is available to compete with it. What makes the land of
Arunachal Pradesh ideal for the production of Kiwi is its altitude which is about 1500- 2000
meters high in some parts of the state including the Ziro valley along with the cool climate of
the become state which experiences winters for more than 8-9 months of the year.
Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh is the first in the country to obtain an Organic
Certification for Kiwi under Mission Organic Value Chain Development Programme for North
East Region (MOVCDP-NER). The state has immense potential for the development of the
horticulture sector.
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Area and Production
The total area under kiwifruit in India is 4000 Ha and
production is 12000 MT (NHB, 2018). Kiwi is one of the
most important fruit crops that are grown in Arunachal
Pradesh. Approximately, 56.5% of the total 6.47 thousand
tons of the kiwifruit produced in the country comes from the
state of Arunachal Pradesh. The State is the largest producer
of in India the total production, followed by Nagaland (2400
tons), Mizoram (1030 tons), Himachal Pradesh (260 tons),
and parts of Sikkim, Manipur, and Jammu Kashmir. Despite
being the largest Kiwi-producing State, the overall
productivity of Kiwi in Arunachal Pradesh is quite low (1.2
mt/ha) compared to other States such as 12mt/ha in
Nagaland, 3.4mt/ha in Mizoram, and 2.2 mt/ha in Himachal
Pradesh. Tawang, West Kameng and Ziro districts of
Arunachal Pradesh are the major production hubs of Kiwi in
the State. While Ziro Valley accounts for a major chunk of
production, the fruit is also found in West Kameng, Lower
Dibang Valley, Si-Yomi, Kamle, Papum Pare, and Pakke
Kessang districts of the state.
Varieties
Since it is a dioecious plant, it bears pistillate and staminate
flowers separately hence both male and female plants are
required for successful cultivation. Numerous varieties are
grown in India viz. Allison, Abbott, Bruno, Hayward,
Monty, and Tamuri, among which four major varieties are
generally grown in Arunachal Pradesh, namely Allison,
Bruno, Hayward, and Monty. Among the cultivars, the
female cultivars are Abbott, Allison, Bruno, Hayward, and
Monty. Whereas the cultivars which are mostly used as male
are Tamuri and Allison (Male). The Hayward variety has
tremendous demand and is considered to be the most liked
variety due to its large size, uniform shape, and colour.
However, In terms of taste, there is not much difference
among the varieties.
Soil and Climate
A well-drained sandy loam soil having pH 5-6.5 is ideal for
Kiwifruit cultivation. It is grown at mid-hills of Arunachal
Pradesh ranging from 800-1500 m above MSL with an
annual rainfall of about 1500 mm. For higher yield and
quality fruits, it requires 600-800 chilling hours below 7
ᵒ
C
to break its rest period. The summer temperature should not go
beyond 35 ̊C otherwise the fruits are injured by sunburn
Propagation
Kiwifruit can be propagated by seed, cutting, grafting and
budding.
Seed propagation
Seeds are first stratified by keeping them at low temperature 3-
4.4 °C for 4 weeks in the moist sand to break the dormancy.
Then they are sown 10 cm apart and 1-2 cm deep during late
winter. Germination starts 15-20 days after sowing. Then after
one year, it is transplanted in the field during the month of
Feb-Mar. As the plant is cross-pollinated, the seedlings are
highly heterozygous and undesirable for commercial fruit
production, however, these are commercially used as a
rootstock on which commercial cultivars are grafted and
budded.
Vegetative
propagation Cuttings
Different types of cuttings, such as hardwood, semi-
hardwood, and softwood are used for the propagation of
nursery plants of kiwifruit. Both hardwood and semi-
hardwood cuttings are generally preferred as they give better
rooting. The ideal cutting is of thickness 0.5 to 1.0 cm with
relatively short internodes i.e., 15-20 cm in length having at
least 3-4 buds. The cutting should be obtained from the
middle portion of the current season's growth during July for
semi-hardwood cuttings and a one-year-old shoot during
January-February for hardwood cuttings. Before planting,
cuttings are treated with 5000 ppm IBA (rooting hormone)
solution for 15-20 seconds and then planted in the mist
chamber for rooting.
Grafting and budding
Kiwifruit is commercially propagated through grafting and
budding on a seedling rootstock. The seedling becomes ready
for grafting and budding normally at the end of the first
growing season, when the stem diameter is about 8-10 mm.
The scion wood is obtained from the one-year-old shoot for
dormant season grafting, whereas current seasons growth for
summer budding. Among the different methods of grafting,
tongue grafting has been found the most suitable as it gave up
to 95% success.
Planting and pollination
Flowering begins after 2-3 years of planting but sizeable crop
are borne only after 4-5 years. Planting is done with a spacing
of 4m to 5m between rows and 5m to 6m between plants in
the month of December- January. Since Kiwifruit is a
dioecious plant, interplanting of the male plant is essential for
fruit production. One male is planted for every nine female
plants for proper pollination. Insect pollination is, therefore,
necessary for the production of marketable fruits.
Training and Pruning
Kiwifruit vine requires skeletal support for commercial
production. Supporting frames should be established
immediately after planting or even before planting. Numerous
training structures like Kniffin, T-bar trellis, and Pergola
systems are used for training a vine, but the most popular and
commonly used training systems are T-bar and pergola.
Pruning is done to maintain excessive vegetative growth and
obtain a high yield. Pruning is done twice a year during the
summer and winter seasons to maintain a balance between
vine growth and fruit production.
Thinning
Thinning is beneficial to maintain the size of the fruit.
Generally, 8-10 fruits are kept per bunch.
Fertilizer requirement
For a healthy crop 20 Kg FYM and 850-900 g Nitrogen, 500-
600g Phosphorus, 800-900g Potash should be for a full-grown
vine after five years of planting. Two third of Nitrogen should
be applied in January-February and the remaining after fruit set
in April-May.
Maturity and Harvesting
For obtaining optimum quality and maximum storage life the
fruit should be harvested when they have attained at least 6.2
T.SS and are still hard. The delay in harvesting also
deteriorates storability. Kiwi vine starts bearing from 4-5,
years while commercial production starts only after 7-8 years.
The harvesting season starts from October and continues till
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Mid-December, the peak being November to mid-December.
Yield
A well-managed plant can give an average fruit yield of 25-
80/90 kg/vine with an average of about 50-60 Kg/ vine.
Pests and Diseases
In kiwifruit, no serious pests and diseases attack have been
observed, thus it has a better scope to become commercial
eco-friendly fruit crop of the country. Due to hard nature of
the fruit with hairy skin surface, the fruits are not damaged by
any bird and even not by the monkeys. It has a longer shelf-
life and can be stored for one month in open at room
temperature and for 4-6 months in cold storage.
Post-harvest handling
Post-harvest management practices play a very crucial role in
deciding the economic value of the product in the market. The
harvested fruits are sorted, graded, and packed at the farm
level. As mentioned earlier, the graded produce is designated
as A+, A, B, C, and D based on weight. It has a longer shelf-
life and can be stored for one month in open at room
temperature and 4-6 months in cold storage.
Packing
There is no standard package for kiwi fruits. Cardboard boxes
of 3-4 kg. Capacity is generally used for packing. Polythene
liners inside storage cases which are very effective in
maintaining high humidity and can be used to maintain fruits
in good condition for a longer period.
Processing and value addition
Kiwifruits are mostly eaten as fresh, although some kiwifruits
are also processed into juices, fortified drinks, purees, candies,
frozen, dehydrated, and lyophilized products, kiwifruit
leathers, wines, distilled spirits, kiwifruit preserved in syrups
and candies, etc. In Arunachal Pradesh, two kiwifruit wineries
have been established at Ziro in Lower Subansiri district and
Dirang in West Kameng district. Once these are fully
operational would create more demand for kiwifruit. In fact,
with the present level of kiwi production in the state, these are
unable to utilize their established capacity.
Constrains of kiwi cultivation in State
Kiwifruit Cultivation has not gained momentum in Arunachal
Pradesh due to;
• Lack of awareness about its Improved Package of
practices.
• Lack of Availability of good quality planting material to
the farmers of the region.
• Lack of packaging facilities, Storage and marketing
network for farmers.
Fig 1: Kiwifruit Cultivation
Conclusion
India is currently importing 4,000 tones of kiwis from New
Zealand. Despite huge potential, congenial climatic, and soil
conditions, the kiwi cultivation in the region has not picked up
to a great extent. The State Government should take initiatives
to provide incentives to the farmers for the promotion of
kiwifruit production in the area which includes the
development of certified Nurseries for the production of quality
planting material for area expansion. Besides improved
production practices feasible for the region should be
developed to increase productivity and quality. Further
availability of CA storage facilities should be created for better
profitability. Processing industries should be set up near the
production areas for utilizing the inferior quality fruit that will
surely give impetus to the production of kiwi fruit in the state.
Reference
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Encountered by Kiwifruit Growers of Arunachal Pradesh.
Contemporary Research in India 2018;8:2231-37
2. Gyanendra M, Ashish K, Azimul H. Kiwi value chain in
Arunachal Pradesh issues and prospects. Agricultural
Economics Research Review 2018; 31:123-30.
3. Singh A, Patel RK, Verma MR. Popularizing Kiwifruit
Cultivation in North East. Himalayan Ecology 2008;
16:18-22.
4. Thejangulie A, Rupankar B, Anup C, Letngam T,
Badapmain M, Sikimoni B. Growing Kiwifruit as
Diversified fruit crop in the Mid Hills of Arunachal
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