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Himachal's cold deserts to be flush with green peas

Updated on Wednesday, June 09, 2021 10:36 AM IST

Shimla, June 9 :
Amidst the pandemic, farmers in the cold deserts of Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh have been going in for extensive cultivation of the remunerative green peas unlike last year when they opted for the traditional black peas -- a pulse smaller in size with a greater shelf life than the green ones.

Agricultural experts told IANS that fearing that the Covid-19 lockdown would hamper marketing of their cash crops the farmers last year went for cultivating the black peas in the sole cultivation season that is less than five months from May.

"Last year a majority of farmers were uncertain about the marketing of the produce amid the countrywide lockdowns. So they preferred the cultivation of the black peas owing to its longer shelf life," the state Agriculture Department's Block Technology Manager Sujata Negi, who is based in Kaza, told IANS over phone.

"Since the black pea is used largely for personal consumption, they still have enough stock. Secondly, this year inter-state movement is allowed amid the Covid-induced lockdowns, the farmers are confident that they could easily market the produce in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, where it commands good profit," she said.

The major markets are in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, with Solan town in Himachal Pradesh being a major hub for vegetable trade.

Nearly 1,500 farmers in the Spiti Valley, with a population of 12,000, are doing one hundred per cent natural farming with no use of chemicals. They have also been growing other vegetable crops like cabbage, cauliflower and barley.

"This season the farmers' focus is more on cultivating the green peas for more revenue earning and it suits the agro-climatic conditions too," Negi added.

Spiti Valley, the paradise that straddles both India and Tibet comprising over two dozen small and scattered villages, remains cut off owing to heavy snow accumulation for at least six months a year.

It reopens once the snow starts thawing after mid-April.(IANS)

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