New Delhi. Ever heard of or seen almond trees in dry, arid and high-temperature conditions of Aravalli chain of mountains that runs in the 692-km stretch between Rashtrapati Bhawan (President House) in New Delhi and Gujarat Rajasthan meandering through southern Haryana region?
An experiment to grow an almond tree in totally adverse climatic conditions and on rocky terrain has become a success at a university campus of Gurgaon, in the foothills of Aravallis.
Maybe the region turns into Badam Bagh of Kashmir, which is traditional almond growing region under the foothills of Hari Parbhat in Kashmir.
A fully grown up almond tree in the campus of Amity University Haryana (AUH) in the parched foothills of Aravalli mountains has come up as a center of attraction and bears green almonds in Panchgaon region of Gurgaon, about 65 km from New Delhi.
“This is possibly the first time in the world that the high-quality almonds have been grown in a region where the temperature soars beyond 45 degree Celsius during summer,” said Prof. Ashok Tikku, Head of Amity School of Languages, at Amity University Haryana. This 125-acre campus is situated in the foothills of Aravalli chain of mountains.
Indian almond production is specifically limited to the hilly states of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. However, Indian almonds also grow in very small yields in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala where trees bear fruits during the winter season only.
However, the sapling planted a few years back at the Amity campus has grown into a grown-up tree with a yield of 4-5 kgs per almonds a year.
“The tree blossoms in February and starts developing fruits in March-April. This year the almond tree was in full bloom in February and is now full of green almonds, a never ever witnessed phenomenon in Haryana,” said Prof. Tiku adding that full credit for this stupendous effort goes to Manjit Singh, the brother-in-law of the Dr Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President of Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (The foundation of Amity Institutions and the sponsoring body of Amity Universities).
A nonagenarian, Manjit Singh is an authority on soil quality of every inch of Haryana state and is always full of initiative, drive, and passion for research. He has also grown apples, pears, peaches and several varieties of mangoes in the horticulture garden of the University.
This was unthinkable in the foothills of Aravalli in Punchgaon as the soil is arid, pebbly, gravelly, and lacks water resources.
Manjit Singh, unaware of the history he was creating, said, “the soil in the region is rocky and had to dig 3-4 ft and cut through the gravel layers before planting the almond trees and other fruit trees grown in Kashmir and foothills of Himalayas. No chemical or artificial fertilizers were used but only depended on organic fertilizer and the tree grows in the natural environment”.
This shatters the myth that no fruit trees can be grown in Arid Aravalli region, he added.
“The days are not far off when this technique could be passed on to local farmers and it would contribute to their enhanced income from horticulture and turn the Aravalli region into a BADAM BAGH of Kashmir. Visitors are welcomed to come and see this scientific experiment of almonds growing naturally,” said Singh.
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