Uttarakhand to install anti-hail guns to save fruit crops

Uttarakhand has decided to install anti-hail guns as part of efforts to save fruit crops, especially apples, from being damaged by hailstorms.

“The Centre has already agreed in-principle to include our proposal in the National Agriculture Development Programme and as soon as it is done, the process for installation of anti-hail guns would be started,” said the State Agriculture Minister, Mr Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Uttarakhand put forward the proposal before the Centre during a meeting convened by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, in New Delhi recently, he said.

The anti-hail guns work with the help of a radar and fire in the air immediately after getting signals about a hailstorm.

The principle behind anti-hail guns is to prevent the damage caused by hailstones by preventing their formation and growth by melting them all together.

An anti-hail gun can save crops in a 1-km radius.

A radar can control at least 10 anti-hail guns, he said.

In the first phase of the project, the Government has proposed to buy one radar and three anti-hail guns, which would be installed in Uttarkashi district, he said.

Harsil, Har-Ki-Dun and Barkot have also been identified for installation of anti-hail guns, as fruits are grown in clusters in these high-altitude areas, he said.

Later, the programme would be extended to other areas also.

The move came after apple, pear and other fruit crops suffered heavy damage at the flowering stage due to hailstorms in high-altitude areas in May this year.

According to an estimate, around 50-60 per cent of the apple crop in the State was destroyed this year due to hailstones, said the Horticulture Additional Secretary, Mr G.S. Pande.

Other fruits were also damaged severely due to the hailstorm, he added.

Mr Pande said hailstones damage the fruit crops almost every year.

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