Shimla, Sep 27 (IANS): Apple is the backbone of Himachal Pradesh's economy and it has immense potential for attracting the tourists, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.
Inaugurating Himachal Apple Festival -- 2019 organised by the state Tourism and Horticulture Departments here, he said horticulturists were adopting latest technologies that were proving a boon to them.
The apple growers should also go for the latest varieties of apple so that they could compete with the apple coming other parts of the country and abroad.
He said the state government would provide all possible help to the apple growers by providing quality inputs so that they can increase apple production.
Thakur said on the occasion of World Tourism Day the state has adopted Himachal Apple Festival as theme that showed the importance of apple in the economy of the state.
He said apple cultivation and orchards could prove an added attraction to the tourists as they would get opportunity to stay in salubrious climate in the lap of nature.
Thakur crowned Shivankita Kanwar as 'Apple Prince', Deepanshi Thakur as 'Apple Princess', Yogesh as 'Apple King' and Vanshika Katoch as 'Apple Queen' on the occasion.
The Chief Minister also cut a 4.5-foot high apple cake weighing over 200 kg prepared by the Tourism Department along with the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Kufri, near Shimla.
The cake has entered into the India Book of Records as biggest apple cake.