Himachal makes schemes fertile for apple farming

CM Virbhadra Singh recently announced a programme for developing varieties that require less chilling and can survive in low altitude areas as well

Climate change is impacting India’s agriculture in varied ways. It has, for instance, cast a shadow over traditional apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh (HP).  

HP’s  apple belt has been predominantly spread across the districts of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Sirmaur and Lahaul-Spiti. These have seen a gradual increase in temperature over recent years, prompting the state to encourage shifting of farming to higher reaches, though this hasn’t met much success.

 

In the recent state Budget, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who also handles finance, announced a programme for developing varieties which require less chilling and can survive in low altitude areas as well. And, allocated Rs 2 crore for importing good quality root-stocks and pollinates. Around 500 acres will be brought under the new and improved varieties in the next few years. The state had earlier partnered New Zealand in a World Bank-funded project to boost production by importing rootstock from the island country.

According to the state’s economic survey, apple constitutes about 49 per cent of the area under fruit crops and about 85 per cent of all fruit production. It is estimated that 42 per cent of all orchards  in the state are over 50 years old and need rejuvenation. The apple economy is estimated to be around Rs 3,600 crore and the average production is seven to eight tonnes a hectare. In Australia, New Zealand, America and European countries, it is 60 to 70 tonnes a hectare.

The temperate climate of the region is primarily due to snow-covered Himalayan ranges and the high altitude, which helps meet the chilling requirement during the winter season. The harvest season is July to October. Maturity is usually around the second week of August and is at its peak by the end of this month, when the fruit starts coming from the middle and upper reaches of the state.

The state’s highest apple production was 893,000 tonnes in 2010-11. Production till December of 2015-16 was 755,000 tonnes.

“We are working on varietal diversification of crops. Over the years we have developed 17 varieties of apple, by importing rootstalk from different countries and making them adaptable to the local climate. The same crop can be planted even at 3,000 feet or 11,000 feet but the timings of flowering are different,” said Vijay Singh Thakur, vice-chancellor of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan. The university has developed varieties where the maturity period of the crop is 80 days.