Director Horticulture Dr. R.K. Pruthi has requested all the fruit nursery growers and orchardists to buy saplings only from the government and non-government fruit nurseries registered with the department. He also asked not to import and sell fruit plant material from outside the state in an unauthorized manner.
He said that it has come to the notice of the department that fruit plants, rootstocks and saplings of fruit plants are being imported from other states in an unauthorised manner by the unregistered nursery growers and the same are being sold to the orchardists of the state at low prices. According to the Himachal Pradesh Fruit Nursery Registration and Regulation Act, 2015 and Rules, 2020 such practices are illegal because there is a possibility of spreading diseases and pests from plants imported from outside states and on the other hand fruit production also get affected.
He said that if any person and orchardist found selling uncertified fruit plants and cuttings without a license, strict action would be taken against them. For this, all the field officers/drawing and disbursing officers (Deputy Director Horticulture, Subject Matter Specialist and Horticulture Development Officer) are authorized to take necessary action as per section (23) of the Himachal Pradesh Fruit Nursery Registration and Regulation Act, 2015.
