Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts are a type of nut commonly eaten as a snack around Canada, harvested for both its sweet taste and its high nutritional content. The cob of a hazelnut is oval in shape, dense in texture, with a hard fibrous husk. They can be eaten raw, but may also be roasted to enhance its flavour. Hazelnuts, like many other nuts, are rich in oil, which can be used as an inexpensive alternative for cooking oil. They are harvested from hazelnut trees over the summer annually, when they reach a brown colour unlike the unripe green. The trees take about 2 years to grow, reaching full maturity at 4 years, and can live up to 80 years. An average hazelnut tree can produce approximately 20 pounds of nuts at about $1.4 USD per pound. With the addition of hazelnut saplings to the Nepalese community, both Canada and Nepal can be well benefitted.
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Hazelnuts harvested over half an hour
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Hazelnut Saplings planted in rows
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Wild hazelnut trees
Nutrition
Hazelnuts are not only a great crop for their commercial values, but are also very nutritious like other nuts and can be eaten as a staple food. With a high content of unsaturated fatty acids, not only are the nuts filling, but they can also be processed as cooking oils. They also contain many bioactive macronutrients as well as essential micronutrients necessary for the functioning of human bodies. Filled with protein and dietary fibre, these nuts can help reduce cholesterol and provide an inexpensive alternative to the nutrients found in many meat products. They can be eaten quickly but with proper storage, can be kept for a long time without decay.
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Environmental Benefits
Not only are hazelnuts great for nutrients, their trees can also benefit their surrounding environment. They don’t require as much water as most other perennial plants, conserving much of the water supply and saving the associated input of labour. Due to their higher rate of photosynthesis compared to the average tree and a large root system which increases access to organic soil matter, they have a substantially high carbon intake, and consequently, act like a carbon sink. Furthermore, they do not require tilling which is often a cause of soil damage due to erosion. This significant reduction in field labouring enables farmers to reduce costs and labour time, allocate their surplus resources to other area and as an added advantage, eliminate the need of keeping and maintaining tilling equipment. As a result, hazelnut trees are an ideal candidate for farmers as well as the environment.
Planting and Growing
Hazelnut trees are best grown by large bodies of water to minimize any impact cold weather may bring. Some varieties are more cold-sensitive than others, but all should be treated with care when the weather is cold. Preferably, they are best grown in moist or sandy loam soil with well fertilized land, although heavier soils could also be used should no loam soil be available. A soil pH of 6 to 7 would be best. If the pH of the soil is too acidic, treating with lime powder can reduce acidity of the land. As with most plants with a shallow root system, the soil needs to be aerated well or it may risk flooding the roots and end up damaging the trees. One of the best ways to plant the trees such that the roots would have minimized damage is by adding perforated tiles below the roots, which would allow for proper and quick drainage of water and prevent flooding damage.
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To prevent air damage to hazelnut trees, planting at higher altitudes with a small slope would prevent frost pockets and allow the trees to be well aired. A canopy or shelter would also be beneficial to hazelnuts to block heavy, damaging winds, as well as regulate wind pollination of hazelnuts. If a canopy or shelter is not available, planting a variety of tall trees around the plantation such as spruces would allow for adequate natural wind protection.
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Trees are to be planted in early spring so that they can root themselves into the soil for adequate nutrient and water intake, and begin to grow once out of dormancy. They can be planted with a basic handheld tree spade, which is a shovel-like tool that can properly deposit the tree and its surrounding soil into a desired pre-dug hole for the tree. If the soil is not moist enough upon planting, water the trees after planting. If available, organic mulch would be a good addition to prevent weed outbreaks, to keep the soil moist, and to allow for more earthworms in improving soil conditions. Ground cover plants could also be planted to prevent pests from damaging hazelnuts before harvest, as well as weeds from harming the tree. The nuts can be gathered on the ground during harvest, after they are fully mature. Hazelnuts are to be stored in a cool, dry storage room at low humidity, and free from precipitation and pest damages, to ensure that the nuts do not get eaten, rot, grow mould, and suffer minimal damage.
To keep the orchard of hazelnut trees well aerated, a good irrigation system would be greatly beneficial in preventing damage to the roots. A drip irrigation system is best for hazelnuts, being comparatively inexpensive and simple to handle. For an orchard of 20 acres with 108 trees per acre, a drip irrigation system would cost from $1,000 to $3,000 CAD. This system may not be affordable to all, thus it is likely that the irrigation system would be used by a community rather than a single family. Alternatively, the system can be self-installed to cut back on labour costs by about $500. The cost of labour to manage the orchard, including the removal of weeds, tending of the trees, and harvesting of nuts, would be about 2 Nepalese rupees per day, per person. Fertilizer may be added, however due to hazelnut trees being self-regulating, many nutrients in the tree can be re-used, thus the need to purchase fertilizer is little to none, unless the soil has been proven to be quite poor in quality. In that case, fertilizer is priced at approximately $200 per 20 acres, depending on the type of fertilizer and its usage.
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Harvesting and Storage
During harvest, storage of the nuts is very important to keep them in good condition. Hazelnuts outside of their husks at room temperature (25C) can last for about a few weeks before they begin to turn rancid. To store them such that they would last long after harvest is vital. Firstly, the nuts should be cleaned by hand to remove debris. Next, they are dried to remove excess moisture content through the use of a homemade box dryer. A cool, dry place is preferred as a final storage, at a temperature below 10C.