Walnuts in India: Top Varieties, Cultivation Guide, Health Benefits & Uses

If you remember the famous story from Kashmir tales; “The wise walnut tree” in which it is clearly mentioned how walnuts become symbols of unity, resilience, and the enduring rewards of patience and harmony with nature.

Walnuts (Juglans regia), known as Akhrot in Hindi, look very similar to the human brain and have great significance because of their high nutritional value and the high quality of wood. India is also the key producer of walnuts and is mostly famous for the different varieties of fruit occurring in the Himalayan regions.

Jammu and Kashmir is the top walnut-producing state in India on a large scale which is more than 90% of the country's production, as they are used in some traditional religious rituals of Kashmir that symbolize prosperity and good fortune. Let's discuss about walnuts more deeply:

Different varieties of walnuts in India

Walnuts are basically classified on the basis of their shell type, kernel quality, and intended use. These qualities make a big difference between all of them. Walnut trees in Kashmir give a good yield of fruit even at 100 years of age. Here is the list of varieties.

• Lake English, Drainovsky, and Opex Caulchry walnuts - These are high-quality walnuts mainly found in cold regions and largely produced in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Gobind, Eureka, Placentia, Wilson, Franquetfe - These varieties of walnuts are mainly produced in Himachal Pradesh and flourish well in cool climates with an evenly distributed annual rainfall of 800 mm.

Also Read: Walnut benefits for health

How to Sow, Grow & Harvest Quality Walnuts?

Cultivating high-quality walnuts in India always requires proper planning, the right climate, and good management practices, here are the steps to sow, grow, and harvest walnuts.

1. Land selection: Selecting a land that fulfils all the qualities that allow growing quality of crops which means choosing a site with fertile soil and clean land from weeds.
2. Climate and soil requirement: Walnuts require an ideal temperate climate that is below  38°C  and with hardcore winters as it cannot tolerate warm climates and can be affected by sun burning the hulls and shriveled kernels. The ideal soil pH range for a good yield of walnuts is between 6.0 to 7.5.
3. Prepare for planting: there must be a propagation for farming walnuts that are budding and grafting techniques, Plant walnut trees after winters and starting of spring on no frozen ground. The popular way of propagation is through seeds so you can use local walnut seedlings as rootstocks.
4. Fertilizing the crops: Always try to use well-rotted organic manure as a fertilizer for the best cropping results while preparing for soil, walnuts require more amount of nitrogen phosphorus, and potassium for healthy growth, and always opt for DAP fertilizers.
5. Irrigation process: It is very important to provide proper and sufficient amounts of water to the crops through an effective drip irrigation method, commonly the irrigation time period of walnuts lies between April to June. Deep watering during dry periods to ensure the tree’s deep roots receive moisture.
6. Weeds and pest management: removing weeds from the crops with the help of weed machines and mulching, sometimes it becomes difficult to spray weeds because of the tall heights of trees. Use integrated pest management (IPM) for pests like husk flies, codling moths, and aphids.
7. Harvesting of walnuts: Walnuts gets mature within 10 or 12 years after planting and can easily bear from the trees by shaking trees, the harvesting season usually comes from September to October.

Health benefits of eating walnuts

Walnuts are a healthy nut chock-full of essential nutrients and help to provide healthy well-being. Here are some health benefits of eating walnuts.

1. Rich in nutrients: Walnuts are fully packed with nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and vitamins that help to boost the immunity and strength of the overall body including strengthening the bones.
2. Deliver healthy fats: Walnuts are rich in healthy fats that are also known as polyunsaturated fat which is essential for the malnutrition body mainly even helps omega 3 fatty acids also help to reduce body weight and excess body fat.
3. Maintain healthy guts and health: The bioactive compounds in walnuts may play an important role in altering the gut health of the body, along with this walnuts can be also beneficial to heart health, by improving the lining of your heart and blood vessels.
4. Beneficial for brain health: Walnut shapes are very similar to brain structure and that also ensures strong brain health as it contains polyphenolic compounds which help to reduce the oxidize stress from the brain cells.
5. Weight management: If you want to maintain the ideal weight then you should add walnuts to your diet as it helps to increase the metabolism of the body and control excessive hunger because it is highly rich in fiber.

Also Read: Types of Millets in India

Culinary use of walnuts

1. Oatmeal: If you want to add some nutrition to your morning breakfast then adding walnuts in your walnuts is the best choice. It can boost the protein level of your meal.
2. Add to snacks and appetizers: You can have walnuts as light snacks for a little hunger such as roasted walnuts  Coated with caramelized sugar or honey for a sweet treat.
3. Healthy sauces: Walnuts are mostly used to make sauces that are naturally beneficial to health.