Shimla: The apple production in Himachal Pradesh is likely to be hampered this year in view of the extreme weather conditions.
Himachal, which is known as the fruit bowl of India did not record the chilling hours in the early winter season that is needed for good apple production. The fluctuations in temperature coupled with bad weather conditions had earlier impacted flowering. Later, due to lack of timely rains in the summer season, the size of apples has also been affected thereby affecting its quality. Now, during the monsoons, apple cultivation has suffered major damages.
In such a situation, the state horticulture department has predicted a comparatively lower production. Thus, the total production in Himachal Pradesh has been estimated to be lesser than three crore boxes.
Production estimates of this year:
According to the reports received from apple producing districts across the state, apple production is estimated to be 2,91,42,800 boxes this time. Shimla district, which records the highest production among districts, is likely to come up with 1,60,99,550 boxes this time. Next comes, Kullu district, which is expected to produce 62,70,600 boxes and Kinnaur district that will have 33,32,200 boxes.
The production estimates in other districts will also be lesser this year. For instance, 24,47,250 boxes of apples are likely to be produced in Mandi district, 5,98,150 boxes in Chamba district, 3,09,400 boxes in Sirmaur district, 64,050 boxes in Lahaul Spiti district, 15,000 boxes in Kangra district, 4,900 boxes in Solan district, 1300 boxes in Bilaspur district and 350 boxes in Hamirpur district. The lowest apple production is usually from Una district, which is expected to have 50 boxes this time.
| District-wise apple production in Himachal Pradesh | |
| District | (Approx) Production in 2024 |
| Shimla | 1,60,99,550 |
| Kullu | 62,70,600 |
| Kinnaur | 33,32,200 |
| Mandi | 24,47,250 |
| Chamba | 5,98,150 |
| Sirmaur | 3,09,400 |
| Lahaul Spiti | 64,050 |
| Kangra | 15,000 |
| Solan | 4,900 |
| Bilaspur | 1300 |
| Hamirpur | 350 |
| Una | 50 |
Apple production since 2010
Taking the data released by the horticulture department, apple production in Himachal was somewhat low last year as well. In the year 2023-24, 2,11,11,972 boxes of apples were produced in the state and the standard size of the box was 24 kg. Prior to which, in 2022-23, apple production in Himachal was 3,36,17,133 boxes and the standard box size was 20 kg.
In 2021-22, there were 3,05,95,058 boxes which had gone down the previous year (In 2020-21) when 2,40,53,099 boxes were produced in the state. Similarly, in 2019-20, apple production was 3.24 crore boxes, in 2018-19, it was 1.65 crore boxes.
The highest production in the last 13 years was in 2010 when, 5.11 crore boxes of apples were produced in the state.
| Apple production 2010-2023 | |
| Year | Production (boxes in crore) |
| 2010 | 5.11 |
| 2011 | 1.38 |
| 2012 | 1.84 |
| 2013 | 3.69 |
| 2014 | 2.80 |
| 2015 | 3.88 |
| 2016 | 2.40 |
| 2017 | 2.08 |
| 2018 | 1.65 |
| 2019 | 3.24 |
| 2020 | 2.40 |
| 2021 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 3.36 |
| 2023 | 2.11 |
70% apples are 'D' grade
Sanjeev Chauhan, a progressive orchardist of Bakhaul village in Shimla district, said, "Due to the weather, this time 70 percent of the apples are of 'D' grade category. Only 30 percent of the apples are of good quality that are being sold for more than Rs 3,000 in the markets. As there was no snowfall in the winters, apples did not get the conducive weather conditions for a good production. Then, due to droughts in summer, the fruits failed to develop well and in July, the apples got spoiled due to autumn disease in the plants. The orchardists could not control the disease well. Along with this, there were some other diseases. Thus along with lower production, the quality of the apples is also poor."
Hem Chand, Joint Director of Horticulture Department, said, "This time the production has been estimated to be 2.91 crore boxes."
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