One hundred years of Himachal apples
Sarika Sharma
It is bright and sunny in Thanedar. The winding road through the little village is dotted with cars; its orchards a labyrinth of anti-hail nets, which are a necessity for the region prone to hail throughout the year. The nets are spread as far as the eye can see, telling the tale of prosperity in what was once a remote, faraway land. Or do they look like cobwebs? Well, Thanedar seems moving in two different centuries at the same time — between riches and crisis, progress and stagnation.
Convent-educated children, a good house and some land... Kotgarh region, of which Thanedar is almost the focal point, can count on fingertips its gains from the apple economy. But for how long will it be able to do so? It was in 1916 that American missionary Samuel Evans Stokes first smuggled apple saplings, hidden in pillows, to India and planted these in this picturesque Shimla village. However, Satyanand (a name Samuel took) Stokes’ Kotgarh has done little to carry forward what he left. And that is what stares, not just the region, but the entire apple economy of Himachal Pradesh in the face.
In the olden days, Shimla was Maximum City for the hill people. Kisan Sangh president BS Thakur says that locals, back then, were mostly shepherds. “Some cultivated potatoes and buckwheat. Those who did not, made the two-day journey, with a night stop at Matiana, to work as labourers in Shimla,” he tells. Today, the area counts among those with the highest per capita income in Southeast Asia. Stokes had noticed the climate here was favourable for growing apples and turned a tea garden into an apple orchard. Initially skeptical, most locals took to apple production in the 1930s. “Boom came in the 1960s and went on for a good three decades,” says Thakur. He says apple changed the economy of this place. “People have nice houses. They have a certain way of living. Their kids are convent educated. They have property in Shimla and some even have houses in Chandigarh. I think that is what one generation can manage in its lifetime,” he says. The benefits are still being reaped. Last season, the area that includes around 10-12 villages produced around 5 lakh boxes of apples. An average box carrying 20-22 kg fruit is priced at Rs 1,000.
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Flowering is over and tiny apples mingle with fresh green leaves such that you wonder if there is any fruit at all. The impression is not totally false. There are not many apples this time, making the growers happy. Last year’s bumper crop hadn’t fetched them a good price. There are some who are not too sure; among them is orchardist and indigenous horticulture expert Harichand Roach. For him, the low produce is a sign of times to come. He says the varieties grown in Shimla stand nowhere in the international market and imports are giving local produce a hard time.
When Stokes decided to do the apple experiment in Himachal, he began with two varieties: Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. Thanedar’s sarpanch Amar Singh says most people are still growing those varieties and quality and output are on a decline. While Roach rues not much is being done to address the issue by state’s horticulture university and the department, Amar Singh says the Kisan Sangh, under Roach’s headship, started making some efforts in the early 2000s. In 2002, they imported new varieties from the US to the area. They also distributed some among people. The imported varieties included Red Delicious, Super Chief, Ace Spur, Fuji, Red Fuji and Sun Fuji.
Roach’s house in Saroga village, overlooking the Sutlej, is surrounded by some trees from the new varieties; among these is Fuji, a light pink apple from China that has inundated rehris and fruit shops in the region. Roach dares Fuji from his orchard is tastier, but unless there is mass production, no one would know. He says these varieties, genetically modified, are more viable as these don’t fall prey to diseases, require less space, are smaller and make plucking and maintenance easier. Still, the area being replanted is so small, a turnaround seems tough. Roach doesn’t blame people. He says cutting down orchards and growing new varieties is not viable. “What will they survive on if they have no apple?” he asks.
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The only place that has seen a complete revamp is Harmony Hall Orchard around Stokes’ old home. The man at the centre of the step is Vijay Stokes, Satyanand Stokes’ grandson, a former professor at IIT Kanpur.
In his report, ‘Rejuvenation of Apple Orchards: Experiments at Harmony Hall Orchards’, which appeared in the June 2010 issue of Vidhanmala, a publication of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, he explains how it is being carried out. “A rejuvenation effort at Harmony Hall Orchards focused on creating a world-class, science-based apple orchard by 2012. In this effort, each year about 5-6 acres of existing apple orchards are clear felled, the ground is upturned and re-terraced and replanted with modern varieties of apple trees imported from the USA,” writes the research engineer who, till 2002, had taken little interest in apple orchards.
Vijay, based in US, says he noted that the local apple growing practices were experience-based modifications of those introduced decades ago. To plan a strategy better, Stokes visited Cornell University in Ithaca, the famous New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and the Adams County Nursery in Aspers, all in the US. He says the visit helped him choose appropriate varieties and rootstocks. The first of these trees planted in 2007 are now 9 years old and bearing commercial quantities of fruit.
While experiments by Roach and Vijay are being termed successful, they feel a dark future for the area can be avoided only with the intervention of the government, the horticulture department and the horticulture university. Vijay says it is pertinent to reform the university by making it an autonomous body. “Change the structure of the departments from the current top-down model to a bottoms-up model in which the faculty is encouraged to do genuine research and trials. Secondly, reform the department such that it develops model orchards for farmers to emulate and set up field laboratories to support science-based apple growing,” says Vijay.
For Roach, a second revolution will come from the village. “For that, the government must make breeders here,” says he, who has often had people from as far as Kullu-Manali visiting him to seek information on latest horticulture techniques. How do practices that have existed for 100 years change, only time will tell. Roach says now is the time to change or be ready to perish.
Two generations nurtured apple cultivation in the region, one reaped its benefits. A huge part of the latter has moved away, including many from the Stokes family [many carrying the surname are now settled in a land he relinquished for Kotgarh]. Those who stayed back are still slogging, trying to pen yet another chapter of the apple story. Little do they know the story needs to be rewritten, all over again.
Ageing woes
While Satyanand Stokes introduced apples in 1916, most took to planting apples in the 1940s. The boom period was from 1960s to 80s and travelled to some bit of the 1990s as well. When the production declined, people started blaming nature and weather. Fate too. In 1999, the crop was zero for some people. Roach says an apple tree’s prime lasts 30 years. Most trees in Kotgarh region are more than 50 years old.
Vijay Stokes on the revolution & the man
Stokes’ legacy: The main legacy to Himachal Pradesh is the spread of delicious varieties which have become the main cash crop for the region. His having been very actively involved with three schools in the area led to better educated locals.
GenNext’s role: The second generation mainly treated orchards as ‘cash cows’. Large sums were expended on the education of the third generation, which has mostly moved out. Unless there is a dramatic change, most orchards will move out of the family.
100-year journey: Apples enormously raised the standard of living of the locals from subsistence-level agriculture requiring back-breaking work to upper middle class status without having to work hard. Easy money has driven the copying of external customs and mores; local language and culture may disappear in one generation.
