By Vishal Gulati

Shimla, Jul 10 (IANS): A good, sweet juicy apple crop has brought cheer to growers in Himachal Pradesh despite nature's vagaries, with production expected to be over 3.48 crore boxes this season, up by 25 lakh boxes from last year.

With early varieties of the fruit reaching north Indian cities, mainly Delhi, farmers are earning higher prices than usual.

"As per our field surveys, we are expecting a harvest of 3.48 crore boxes of apples. Last year there was a production of 3.25 crore boxes," Horticulture Joint Director Govind Singh Jhobta told IANS.

He said the harvesting of early varieties like Tydeman at lower elevations in Karsog, Kumarsein and Jubbal areas has begun.

"The remunerative royal delicious varieties will start arriving after August 15," Jhobta said, adding "the early varieties, of course, fetch a high price".

Apples are currently selling for Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per carton of Tydeman and Gala varieties, Anil Begta, a commission agent at the fruit market yard of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Bhattakufar, near Shimla, told IANS.

"Some Italian spur superior varieties are selling Rs 500-Rs 600 higher than the Tydeman variety," he said.

Superior grades like Royal Delicious, Red Chief, Super Chief, Oregon Spur and Scarlet Spur will start arriving by the middle of August. The harvest season for apples lasts till October.

With the state's fruit industry worth Rs 5,000 crore, apple is the most important fruit crop, which constitutes about 49 per cent of the total area under fruit crops and about 85 per cent of the total fruit production.

The area under apple cultivation has increased from 400 hectares in 1950-51 to 3,025 hectares in 1960-61 and 114,646 hectares in 2020-21.

According to the Economic Survey of 2021-22, the state produced 6,01,000 metric ton (MT) of apples last year, which means nearly 3.20 crore standard boxes, while the production was 4,81,000 MT in 2020-21 and 7,15,000 MT in 2019-20.

A carton usually contains around 25 kilogram of apples.

The state witnessed the highest-ever production in 2010, when 8,92,112 MT was produced. Ever since, the state has crossed the 7 lakh-MT mark only thrice -- 7,38,723 MT in 2013, 7,77,126 MT in 2015 and 7,15,253 MT in 2019.

As per the horticulture department's latest survey, the apple crop was in stress across the state, largely at lower elevations, owing to deficit rainfall from March to May.

Now the monsoon has rekindled the hopes of farmers of getting an optimum output from the surviving apple crop after drought-like conditions.

"Now monsoon rains, sporadic but not widespread, are certainly beneficial where the apple crop is ripening," apple expert S.P. Bhardwaj, a former joint director at the Solan-based Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, told IANS.

"The farmers will have to be patient as the moisture in the form of rain will help the fruit attaining optimum size that will overall increase the production," he said.

Bhardwaj advised the farmers to go for harvesting of the crop in stages after August 15 which will help in overcoming a glut too when rates fall amid low demand in the market.

Harish Khemta, an apple grower in Kotgarh tehsil in upper Shimla, said: "The monsoon rains have cheered the growers. Though we will not get a bumper harvest, the rains will certainly help the crop to gain the optimum size and true colour too."

Himachal Pradesh, one of India's major apple-producing regions with over 200,000 families engaged in the cultivation of the fruit, is also emerging as a leader of change by adopting low-cost, non-chemical and climate-resilient natural farming.

State government records say 146,438 farmers, including 14,000 apple growers, in the hill state are doing natural farming either partially or fully, over 8,268 hectares.

For Satya Devi, 44, an apple grower in Lafughati village in Theog block in Shimla district, the Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) is life saving, besides being a profitable option.

Earlier, she was managing her two bigha orchard with chemicals. A few years ago she had a major health problem with the chemicals that she was spraying in the orchard and doctors advised her to stop using them.

"I do much of the work in the orchard myself as labour availability is limited. When I had health issues, it depressed me as the apple orchard was the only source of income for me and my daughter. It also made me think of the effect of chemical-laced apples on those who eat. The only option for me at that time was to adopt the natural way of farming," she told IANS.

After shunning chemicals, the input cost in her orchard has come down to around Rs 2,000 from Rs 20,000 spent on chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

She said the production of apples has also increased from 50 to 180 boxes and the natural farming saved the fruit from damage by hail and pests too.

Today Satya Devi's apple orchard is a centre of attraction for researchers and farmers.

The government is promoting low-chilling and early maturing varieties in the lower-altitude hills that are facing the brunt of climate change.

Himachal Pradesh's apple boom is credited to Samuel Evans Stokes (later named Satyanand Stokes), an American missionary who first introduced the high-quality apples in the mid-altitude hills in the second decade of the previous century.

From a small orchard in Kotgarh in Shimla district, Stokes promoted apple cultivation in other areas too, especially in upper Shimla.

Before opting for apple cultivation, the locals were planting mainly wheat, maize and pulses.