Weather vagaries upset Himachal’s apple cart

Apple production is set to remain around last year’s ballpark amid extreme weather conditions. This year, the horticulture department predicts a yield of 2.81 crore boxes of apples from 1.15 lakh hectares of cultivated land. Last year, the state recorded a production of more than 2.11 core crore boxes.

The numbers pale in comparison to 2009-10, when 99,564 hectares of land produced 5.11 crore boxes of apples. However, the area under cultivation had increased to 1.15 lakh hectares, yet production was down to 2.11 crore boxes. The second-highest crop since 2009-10 was 3.69 crore boxes in 2013.

The amount of land under cultivation has been on an increase constantly. It stood at a meagre 400 hectares in 1950-51, went up to 3,025 hectares in 1960-61, and so on.

The weather has not been conducive for apples since the beginning of the year, chilling hours were not completed due to the lack of snowfall in winter — especially in the lower altitude areas.

While a drought-like condition prevailed in February, when apple crops needed good snowfall. After March 15, rain and long wet spells through April and May severely affected flowering, which was also impacted by the unusually high average temperature of 15° C as opposed to the ideal 8° C. This affected the pollination and fruit set.

“Apple production is highly dependent on weather conditions. Unfavourable weather patterns in recent years, such as insufficient snowfall in winter, untimely rain, hailstorms during flowering, and drought, have adversely affected apple yields,” Dr SP Bhardwaj, a horticulture expert, said.

“This year has been bad for the growers as it did not snow in winter which did not help in fulfilling the chilling hours while it hailed and rained during the blooming time disturbing the pollinating pattern,” an apple grower from Kotkhai and the head of Harish Chauhan Sanyukt Kisan Manch said.

In the large part of the apple belt, there were frequent hailstorms in April and May. This badly affected the apple crop and growers who had not installed anti-hail nets were the worst hit, losing up to 70% of their crop.

“Changing weather patterns affect apple production but it’s a matter of research that there is something wrong with the practices adopted in the orchards. Around 70% orchards are past their prime, so there is a decline in size and quality, then weather patterns have affected production drastically, especially in the last five years, absence of adequate chilling hours due to less snow and high temperatures in winters, then adverse rainy, cold weather during bloom time are major factors for the decline in apple production,” Progressive Apple Growers Association president Lokinder Singh Bisht said.

World Bank project

fails to boost production

A World Bank project worth ₹1,134 crore aimed at increasing apple production has not yielded the expected results. Approved in 2017, the project aimed to raise average production from 6 to 8 metric tonnes per hectare. However, no increase has been observed.

The low crop has also impacted the carton factories in Himachal, particularly in Baddi Barotiwala and Nalagarh. The demand for the cartons has gone down. There are 250 cardboard industries in the state, of which 40% manufacture apple cartons.

Himachal for the first time has replaced the telescopic cartons (which can be adjusted up to a load of 35kg) with the universal ones (fixed cartons where apples are packed by weight), aimed at transforming apple packaging. Under the new regulations, orchard owners will be required to use universal cartons, with options for 24 kg and 12 kg packaging.

Apple alone makes for ₹6,000-crore economy in Himachal and sustains more than 1.75 families in Shimla, Kullu, and Kinnaur. It covers 48% of the state’s total area under fruit crops and about 81% of the production during the 2021-22 financial year. The area under Apple stood at 1,15,016 hectares in 2021-22.