Heavy snowfall may have thrown life out of gear in urban areas of Himachal Pradesh, but it has brought smiles on the faces of apple growers.

It snowed heavily in higher hills of Himachal from mid December to mid January after a long gap, bringing fortunes for apple orchardists in the hill state, particularly, upper belts of Shimla that produce 70% of apples in HP.

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“Heavy snowfall in early part of winter will help apple crop bloom properly later in the year by retaining moisture in soil for chilling. For past many years, there was a shift in winters and the snowfall occurred in late January or February, which was not suitable for apple crop,” an apple grower from Kotgarh, Ravinder Makhaik told The Statesman.

The apple plants require 800-1000 chilling hours in winters as they get ready to bear flowers in April month. The chilling requirement of apple plants is met with by temperature below 7 degree Celsius, but heavy snow gives multiple benefits. It not only meets the need of chilling hours, but makes water available to the plant.

“If it rains, there are chances of flooding of water, run off and sometimes, the top soil is disturbed. But snow allows retention of water in soil to the maximum. Chilling is the physiological requirement of the apple plant before flowering. If met properly, the flowering is better and the fruit setting is effective,” said Dr SP Bhardwaj, a horticulture expert, who retired from Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan as Joint Director.

He said, but snow certainly gives added benefits.

The apple economy in Himachal Pradesh runs into Rs 4000 crore with around 1.5 lakh families associated with it, mainly in Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur district.

Official records say that apple is produced on 1.25 lakh hectares in the state with productivity as low as 3-4 tonnes per hectare. The apple production in Himachal Pradesh is around 4 crore boxes (one box is 20 kilograms) if the crop is good. The state generally contributes 40 per cent of total apple production in India, followed by Kashmir, which is at the top with 50 per cent production.

Although the weather pattern at every step is important to get good fruit harvest, every year, the apple growers in the state have their fingers crossed in winters in the run up to flowering in apple plants, which is most crucial.

There are other factors too, which are regularly contributing to low productivity of apples in HP.

The apple orchards in the state are over age and worn out. An apple plant has an age of 60-70 years, but in HP, many apple orchards are 80-100 years old.

“The unaware growers replace the plants only when they stop giving returns. The replacement has to be done in a phased manner. Unfortunately, there is no sustained effort to facilitate farmers with technical expertise,” said Dr Bhardwaj.