Shri Suneel Singh, a 39-year-old ex-serviceman from Gundarna, Tagood, Tehsil Mughal Maidan, District Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir, has transformed his passion for walnut farming into a thriving profession. After serving the nation in the Indian Army from 2004 to 2021, Shri Suneel developed a deep interest in horticulture, particularly in walnut cultivation a crop well-suited to the temperate climate of his native region.
Seeking scientific guidance, he approached the ICAR–Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar, to learn about elite walnut varieties and advanced cultivation technologies. The institute extended comprehensive technical support, including the supply of true-to-type planting material, training in propagation techniques such as annular and patch budding and cleft grafting, and advisory inputs on pollination management, rejuvenation of old orchards, and orchard layout design. He also received continuous institutional mentoring on nursery management, disease control, and varietal identification and registration. ICAR-CITH further assisted him in establishing a mother block for elite germplasm conservation and guided him in protecting his walnut varieties under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPV&FRA).
With this scientific support and his own dedication, Shri Suneel Singh began to make remarkable strides in walnut cultivation. Under his leadership, propagation success rates reached an exceptional 90% for annular budding and 50% for cleft grafting under open field conditions a rare feat in walnut propagation. He has identified and multiplied seventeen high-yielding, early-bearing, soft-shell walnut varieties suited to the local agroclimatic conditions. Over the past three years, he has raised 70,000 walnut seedling rootstocks and produced around 25,000 grafted and budded plants, including his own cluster-bearing selection ‘SS-1’, which has been submitted for protection through PPV&FRA.
Today, Shri Suneel manages two hectares of mother blocks and one hectare of nursery land, both equipped with assured irrigation and convenient access. His nursery, accredited by the State Horticulture Department and the National Horticulture Board (NHB), has become a reliable source of high-quality planting material. He has supplied walnut plants to farmers across Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram, covering over 150 hectares under new plantations. In addition, he implemented a community-driven lift irrigation system from the Sigdi Chatroo River, ensuring a consistent water supply for his enterprise.
From an initial annual income of just ₹2 lakh in 2021, Shri Suneel now earns between ₹15–20 lakh per year, with about 90% of his income derived from nursery sales. Beyond economic gains, he has become a trainer and motivator for local youth and farmers, demonstrating how scientific intervention can drive sustainable entrepreneurship.
A strong advocate for walnut farming, Shri Suneel Singh highlights its resilience to climatic fluctuations, low input requirements, organic suitability, and long productive life exceeding 200 years. Compared to apple, walnut offers minimal post-harvest losses, easier storage and transport, and multiple market avenues for by-products such as oil, shell, hull, and pellicle.
The journey of Shri Suneel Singh stands as a powerful example of how scientific knowledge, institutional support, and individual perseverance can together transform livelihoods. With the timely mentorship of ICAR-CITH, Srinagar, he has turned walnut cultivation into a model of profitable, sustainable, and inspiring rural entrepreneurship proving that passion guided by science can indeed lead to prosperity.
(Source: ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar)
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