PRESENT STATUS AND PROBLEMS OF WALNUT CULTIVATION IN INDIA

Persian walnut is the most important temperate nut grown in India. It is mainly grown in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Total area under walnut is 67053 hectares with annual production over 71758 metric tons. Most plantations are of seedling origin and are in scattered form which produce nuts of variable quality. Breeders over the years have exploited the variation amongst these seedling trees to select superior genotypes with desirable traits. Besides, improved cultivars were introduced from other countries and after evaluation, some recommendations have been made. On the whole, walnut has remained a low priority crop in otherwise apple dominated regions. Walnut growing suffers from lack of suitable methods of propagation, inadequate vegetatively propagated plants, lack of standard rootstocks/ cultivars, problems of re-establishment of nursery plant in the orchard, specific climatic requirements, pollination behaviour and lack of suitable pollinizers, long juvenile period and harvesting. The progress made in the recent years to overcome the above cultivation problems with a view to revive the walnut industry with export potential has been discussed.

IV International Walnut Symposium

S.D. Sharma, K. Kumar

Persian walnut, cultivation, India

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.544.83