After enjoying an apple revolution over the past 50-60 years, Himachal Pradesh farmers have run into adverse weather conditions due to climate change which has emerged as a major threat to their orchards.

“Our produce is over-dependent on weather, unlike Kashmir where they have irrigation facilities. Recurring dry spells, excessive or untimely rains or failure of snow during winters impacts the production of apples even if we skilfully manage the orchards” says Sanjay Chauhan, an orchardist and former mayor of Shimla.

This year too, the apple crop has witnessed a prolonged dry spell hitting the season at flowering stage. As the crop is getting matured, excessive rains have damaged the crop. This has led to an impact on the fruit size and colour.

Global warming and climate changes has really become a challenge world over, especially in the mountain regions. Apples have been the most important commercial crop in Himachal Pradesh with a Rs 5,500 crore turnover, but the depletion of snow cover, warmer climate and low chilling hours have adversely impacted fruit bearing conditions.

The reduced snowfall and the change in timing have decreased the chilling hours, ultimately resulting in poor quality yield. Even this year, the early heatwave in April-May months have been a highly unusual phenomenon.

Climate change has made things uncertain. The gradual shifting of the crop from lower and mid-elevations to higher altitude is also a new development that is taking place due to climate change. 

What should the apple growers do? When asked Prof Vijay Singh Thakur,Former Vice –Chancellor  Dr Y S Parmar Horticulture University, says farmers have to shift to cultivation of new varieties, which grows better under changed climatic conditions.

Many young orchardists have switched to newer varieties such as Red Chief, Super Chief, Oregon Spur and Scarlet Spur that fetch better rates than the “traditional” Delicious.

Pratap Chauhan a farmer at Kotkhai said, “Nearly 25 years, we have seen gradual changes in weather patterns in the region, which have intensified in the past 10 years. Snowfall spells have decreased substantially. Its cycle has also shifted. Rain and hail have become completely unpredictable. There are new diseases occurring because of the heatwave . We need more sprays, too.”