Kiwifruit Landscape: The Arunachal Pradesh Story

The kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Patch) is a Horticulture wonder. In India Kiwi fruit is grown in mid hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Sikkim, Meghalaya in sub-tropical regions lying between 3000 -5500 ft. amsl. This fruit was introduced in Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh in 2000 on trial basis as Dirang also fulfils the climatic condition. Since the climate and soil condition was found suitable for Kiwi, farmers from Kalaktang, Tenzing Gaon, Rupa, Singchung, Nafra cultivate Kiwi and now it has spread to other districts of Arunachal Pradesh in a large scale. The state Arunachal Pradesh is the leading producer of Kiwifruit, in India and the crop can also be grown in others states for expansion provided a favourable climate prevails. . Despite congenial climate and soil, the lack of quality planting material, package of practices, modern technology and trained manpower are the major constraints in enhancing the productivity of kiwifruits. The paper elucidates the major technologies developed for increased productivity in kiwifruits. Keeping in view the constraints, KVK West Kameng and East Kameng have put forward road maps for cultivation of Kiwifruits in Arunachal Pradesh. This paper also discusses about the priority area, economic estimate and organic production to be studied for precision farming of Kiwifruit.