Apple no longer king in Kotgarh

The great apple story that started in Kotgarh a century back is heading towards the end. Factors like climate change and re-plantation diseases are gradually rendering the birthplace of commercial apple cultivation in the state unsuitable for apple cultivation, especially for the traditional apple trees.

By hosting a national conclave on stone fruits a couple of days back, the Kotgarh apple growers made it clear that they have made up their mind to switch to stone fruits in a big way. “Old trees are drying up fast and the new plantations aren’t working. And then diseases and pests have become quite rampant. It’s time for the region to move towards stone fruits,” said Hari Chand Roach, one of the pioneers of apple cultivation in the region.

The switch, though, will not be easy to make, both emotionally and actually. Apple brought exceptional prosperity to the region after Satyanand Stokes planted the first sapling there in 1916. A connect so old and so successful will be difficult to break.

The growers in lower elevations of the region have already diversified into cherries, plums and apricots but apple continues to be the dominant fruit in the region. The bigger hurdle in diversifying into stone fruits is the current lack of infrastructure, especially the post-harvest infrastructure and the shortage of quality planting material.

The push towards stone fruits will not yield desired results if these two issues are not taken care of. “We’ve imported high-quality planting material for stone fruits under the World Bank-funded Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project, and we are now propagating this material and making it available to the growers,” said Vinay Singh, Director, Horticulture. Still, there’s an acute shortage of quality planting material. “Much of the planting material is coming from the grey market, which could be carrying viruses that could cause immense damage to our fruit economy,” Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi pointed out while addressing the growers during the conclave on stone fruit.

And then, large-scale stone fruit cultivation needs post-harvest infrastructure to enhance the shelf life of perishable fruits like cherries and plums. Without enhancing the shelf life of these fruits, these can’t be transported to distant markets. The post-harvest infra needs a hydro-cooling system, refrigerated vans, individual quick freezing systems, etc. “If the required infrastructure is available, growers can earn more money through stone fruits compared to apple. But without the market infrastructure, a large scale move towards stone fruits will be suicidal,” warned Roach.

Amidst the talk of apple becoming non-viable in Kotgarh, Vijay Stokes, grandson of Satyanand Stokes, continues to bat for apple. “We need to be scientific in our approach and need to move on from old Royal varieties to modern varieties that are performing better and are fetching higher returns,” said Stokes.