Apple Orchards Falling Victim To Climate Change

On the narrow winding road, the car glided through during the late afternoon, till a heavy spell of showers somewhat slowed it down and obscured the lovely window view of the Deodar trees with their branches stretched out.

The destination was Jhokar, a village which lies in Kupvi block of Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh. The place has an elevation of over 8000 feet (2550 metres) above sea level. On that particular day, foggy weather conditions lent it a misty charm and the chilly air signalled a warm cup of coffee. Snowfall occurs here in December.

Apple drying at Thalog village in Chaupal.

On the way to Rajinder Chauhan’s homestay-cum-house under construction in Jhokar, the sight of fruit-laden apple trees came into view. Chauhan has a huge orchard of about 1.25 acres (two bighas) at the back of his property, complete with a processing unit for washing apples, sorting the fruits according to their sizes and packing them into boxes for transportation after picking happens.

“One box contains 20-25 kg and the number of pieces in them depends on the size. Some boxes have 150 pieces of the Royal variety which I grow. Other may have 175-300,” he said. The apple farmer has 1000 trees in his orchard, of which 500 yield fruits at present and the rest will start yielding after three years.

Apples being loaded for transportation.

Since the past few years, Chauhan has been following the principles of natural farming for apple cultivation. “The total sale amount from apples stands at about Rs 10 lakh. I have to spend somewhere around Rs 4 lakh on the maintenance of the orchard.

“This involves buying raw materials for preparing natural concoctions to improve the soil fertility, paying labourers who work for me and buying corrugated packing boxes, trays, plastic crates and other things,” he said.

Farmer Surat Ram blames climate change for impacting the yield of apples.

Across the small mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh where farmers like Chauhan are into horticulture and vegetable farming for livelihood, climate change is playing spoilsport in the form of unwanted rains and hailstorms.

“Hailstorms affect the flowering and fruiting stages in apples. The fruits need proper chilling hours for development till harvesting time and also for having the desired colour. Hailstorms rupture the outer skin of apples at the time of fruiting. Fruits become deformed and non-marketable,” Gaurav Singh Chauhan said. He is a senior research fellow at the Dr Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni, Solan district. The university is advocating the principles of natural farming.

At Bagasan, a high density apple farm in Shimla district.

Apple is a popular temperate fruit grown widely in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Production in the first two states stands at 11-13 tonnes per hectare.

In 2023-24, apple production across Himachal stood at 506687 metric tonnes. The researcher’s words rang a note of caution. “There are apple varieties which used to be cultivated in the lower altitudes. Now, either the altitude is going up or farmers are shifting to other crops as apples need 1200 chilling hours (period of exposure to cold temperatures). This is becoming a problem with a changing climate and higher temperatures,” Chauhan said.

Apple washing and grading at Jhokar.

On 4.99 acres or eight bighas of land, farmer Surat Ram cultivates apples as well as vegetables. “Climate change is impacting the apple fruit and the yield was less this year perhaps due to reduced chilling hours. The minimum requirement is 900 hours. There is an absence of snowfall when it is needed and untimely rains are unwelcome,” he said. The farmer grows the Fuji variety.

Rajinder Chauhan’s brother-in-law Surendar Mehta explained that rainfall is a necessity in June. But globally rainfall patterns have changed due to climate change.

A man carrying apples somewhere in Chaupal.

“Rain after June 20 is necessary for apples. It was late this year. It came after mid-July,” he said. In the lower elevation, it increases the risk of dry spells. Higher altitudes still have foggy conditions which bring moisture.

This reporter met Dilip Suman at a processing unit in Chaupal handling apple grading and packaging. “I have a big orchard. But look how climate change has caused my apples to become dry and shrivelled at the top,” he said, while pointing it out for a photo. “If it had rained timely, this wouldn’t have happened. Apple trees need regular rains for moisture. Snow is necessary too. But now dry spells are increasing,” he added.

Climate change is bringing dryness, impacting the skin of apples.

According to Hedayatullah Omarkhel from Afghanistan, high density apple orchards can help fight climate change through increased yields and judicious water usage. “High density orchards help fight climate change in terms of less water consumption and high yields. There is up to 90 percent less water usage and four times more yield,” Omarkhel said. He is an international trade specialist working for Roots of Peace, an American non-profit.

The expert visited Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh in 2019. At that time, the Gram Disha Trust which advocates sustainable farming practices in the hills had organised an intensive training session for Afghanistan’s apple farmers. This reporter was present during that event.

Farmer Rajinder Chauhan with his wife Babli.

At a high density apple orchard at Bagasan village in Nerwa tehsil (sub-division) of Chaupal, Pushpendra Singh Rathod and his brother Kulwant Singh Rathod are using Jeevamrit, a chemical-free concoction used for soil fertilisation, for an orchard with 2800 apple trees spread over 1.23 acres (almost 2 bighas).

The trees here are being grown in a row and two rows have a distance of seven feet between them. There is a distance of 2.5 feet between two trees. The orchard was established in 2020-21 at an investment of about Rs 80 lakh.

Babli Chauhan at her farm in Jhokar.

The harvest stood at 600 boxes. Rathod told the reporter that this year apples were harvested in August. “Harvest is usually over by July. But this time it was late. There has been dryness too due to the lack of moisture. It impacts the taste and size of the fruits. At 4300 feet (1371 metres), rains are needed for apples but it is getting delayed and arriving in less quantity,” Rathod said.

The farmer who grows Delicious and Gala varieties fears harvests may get postponed in future. But as the orchard is relatively new, he has not thought of introducing any new variety.

A view of Jhokar.

Rathod is trying his best to maintain moisture in the soil. Stones are crushed, and along with powered pulses, added to Jeevamrit prepared at home, stored in drums and used within three-four days in the field.

Drip irrigation technique is used which saves precious water carried to the orchard through a solar-based lift irrigation system for which farmers receive subsidies. The apple orchard has an intercropping of beans and pulses. Garlic will be sown later.

At Chaupal’s Shawala village, Prakash Chand informed that most farmers in Shimla district grow apples, along with peas and potatoes. “This time less rainfall impacted the fruit quality. Soil fertility has reduced but at such times natural farming methods can help farmers tackle a changing climate,” he said.

While farmers in Himachal are trying their level best at mitigation measures, there is not much awareness on climate change in Afghanistan, Omarkhel said. “Apples are mostly grown in the central part of the country. In some areas, the blooming time has undergone a change. This year, it was early and last year the blooming was late. Rainfall was high at the time of blooming and there was late frost. Both aspects were challenging. Pest attacks have increased due to a changing climate,” Omarkhel added.

The expert also talked about temperatures which were much more than normal. It used to be in the range of 32-35 degrees Celsius in central Afghanistan but this year it touched 37 degrees Celsius and even more. This causes sunburn on apples, impacting the skin.

In Australia, apple growers need to manage sunburn risk in apples in the context of a changing climate with frequent heat events. Sunburn lowers both fruit appeal as well as the quality.

To overcome the impacts of climate change, natural farming is the solution, Munish Sood said. He is the deputy project director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency, Shimla. Soil conservation techniques under natural farming help prevent the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

During a quick trip at Chauhan’s orchard in Jhokar wearing gumboots, the farmer enlisted post-harvest problems like transportation downhill from a steep elevation besides a changing climate. “The weather conditions and the time must be appropriate during transportation or else apples turn overripe and lose their crunch.”