Introduction:
One District One Product (ODOP) initiative is aimed at fostering balanced regional development across all districts of the country. The initiative aims to select, brand, and promote at least One Product from each District (One District – One Product) of the country for enabling holistic socioeconomic growth across all regions. The ODOP Initiative has identified a total of 1102 products from 761 districts across the country.
Under the ODOP initiative, all products have been selected by States/UTs by taking into consideration the existing ecosystem on the ground, products identified under Districts as Export Hubs (DEH), and GI-tagged products. The finalized list is communicated to DPIIT by the relevant Department of States/UTs. All activities including exhibitions, capacity building, etc. are undertaken at the State/UT and district level, in consultation and coordination with the States/UTs.
Name of the crop/commodity: Pecan nut (Hickory)
• Common Name: Pecan nut
• Scientific name:[(Caryaillinoensis (Wang) C. Koch]
• Family: Juglandaceae
- In India, pecans are mainly grown in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
- In Jammu and Kashmir pecan nut cultivation is about a century old. Earlier it was grown as scattered single trees or in pairs but in recent past area under pecan has increased and with the efforts of government agencies and interventions by State Agriculture universities area under pecan nut in J & K has increased tremendously with commercial production of production of about 75.0 metric tonnes from an area of around 507.0 ha .
- Pecan nut in J & K is called by various names like Khori, Shimla akhrot and in Bachh Doon. Khori being most widely used name.
- Recently many orchards of improved cultivars have been planted which will start giving commercial yield in next 3-4 years. It is expected that pecan nut production will increase dramatically in coming years.
- Pecan nut is very specific in its climatic requirements. In J & K best quality pecans are confined to mid hill altitudes with Poonch and Rajouri being the main districts suitable for its cultivation. Besides this it can be grown in Kishtwar and Doda districts and in some parts of Ramban Udhampur and Kathua districts. Iit can be grown in areas which are not suitable for cultivation of apple and walnut.
- Though pecan nut originated in North America but species growing in Asia (China and India) have also been reported. In India cultivation of pecan nut started in 1937 after introduction of commercial pecan nut varieties from USA. These varieties have become obsolete in India. Besides there is huge wealth of wild growing pecan nut germplasm which needs to be preserved and registered. Providing G. I. tag will give boost to emerging industry of pecan nut cultivation in J&K.
