Authorities in India’s Uttarakhand state are promoting the cultivation of blackberries for export, banking on the two month head start the region has on European production.
The state government has distributed blackberry canes to farmers to bootstrap production the region, which currently does not produce any of the fruit, reported ANI.
“Several European tourists when they visited India said that if we grow blackberries in India and send the frozen fruit to Europe it could be lucrative business, as the blackberries were not grown in Europe at that time,”Sudhir Chaddha, agriculture specialist and director of Floriculture Park located in Chaf, told ANI.
“We grow blackberries two months in advance as compared to the farmers in Europe. This will be a great advantage for the blackberry farmers in India.”
Uttarakhand’s soil is reportedly ideal for blackberry production, and production is expected to take place in February, March and April.
