Weather Gods have again dashed the hopes of apple growers in Himachal Pradesh.
The dry spell in winters followed by a rainy summer with hailstorms too hitting hard have damaged the prospects of a good apple crop this year.
Rather, the state that witnessed half the production of apple in 2017, may reap even lesser crop in 2018, with certain pockets in the apple belt of Shimla, which produces over 70 per cent of the total crop in HP, badly affected.
“We may get less than half the crop this time because of shifting and wavering weather pattern. The flowering did not take place properly due to dry winters, heavy rains and hailstorm thereafter has done much damage,” said Naresh Chauhan, who has a sprawling apple orchard in Kotkhai.
The Apple growers, however, said when the produce is lesser, they get good prices in the market—but that’s no substitute for a good crop on the whole.
Last year, the apple production in HP was over two crore boxes (a box contains 20 kilograms of apple), roughly half the average annual production in the state.
“Weather pattern at every step is important to get a good fruit harvest. The displaced weather affects the overall physiology of the plant. Snowfall is urgent to meet chilling requirements of apple plants before flowering. After the fruits are set, the drop in temperature affects the size of fruit,” Dr SP Bhardwaj, a horticulture expert who retired as Joint Director from Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry told The Statesman.
The apple economy of HP annually runs into 4000 crore, with 1.5 lakh families associated with it. Shimla district tops the production, followed by Kullu and Kinnaur.
Apples from different parts of HP start flooding the market mid-July onwards. Kinnaur apple comes last, in October.
As per officials, apple is produced on 1.25 lakh hectares in the state with productivity as low as 3-4 tonnes per hectare.
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.
There are other factors too, which are regularly contributing to low productivity of apples in HP.
“The weather plays havoc with apple crop. But a persistent cause of lower productivity in general is the old rootstock of apple. Once it is changed, even the weather impact can be reduced,” said officials in horticulture department.
The apple orchards in the state are over aged and worn out with some diseases also setting in. An apple plant has an age of 60-70 years, but in HP, many apple orchards are 80-100 years old.
The rootstock replacement in a phased manner during the course of Rs 1,100 crore World Bank funded horticulture project brings a lot of hope for apple growers, however.