Hopes of good apple season hit hard by rain, storm, dust

Apple growers have lowered their production expectations substantially following rainfall, hail and a massive storm in the past two weeks. A good bloom, coupled with a good weather, had raised hopes of a good yield among the apple growers of Shimla district, which produces around 70 per cent of the total fruit grown in the state. Rain, frost, storm, dust, etc., at the time of the bloom have hit the fruit setting in mid and high apple belts, forcing growers to lower their expectations substantially.

Ashutosh Chauhan, a progressive grower from the apple-producing Baghi-Ratnari area, claimed that the inclement weather during the bloom period had hit the orchards located at a height of 7,000 feet to 8,000 feet quite hard. “The bloom was good, raising hopes of a good season. But then came the storm, followed by rain. There was a lot of dust and pollution in the atmosphere. It all came down with the rain, choking the pollen tube of the flowers and hampering the crucial process of pollination,” he added.

Sanjeev Thakur, a grower from the famous Chawara valley of Rohru, said that the weather had hit the orchards in his area as well. “We had a good bloom but it did not lead to a good fruit setting due to poor pollination,” he added.

He said, “The orchards where bloom was over before the monsoon and storm have a good crop. But orchards, which sustained rain, frost and storm during the bloom, have been badly hit.” The big apple-producing Kotkhai belt has also been hit badly by the inclement weather.

Shiv Pratap Bhimta, an orchardist and anti-pollution activist, said that the orchards located between 6,500 feet and 8,000 feet in the Kotkhai area had been hit hard. “Rain that brought down the dust on to the flowers caused a big damage,” he added.

He said that the weather had become too erratic for apple cultivation in the past few years, the local weather conditions, influenced by the presence of forests and several water bodies, had changed over the years.” Forests had been encroached upon and cut on a large scale for setting up orchards and water bodies had disappeared. This played a vital role, in addition to other factors, in making our weather erratic,” he added.

Bhimta said, “Further, people are polluting the environment with higher vehicular emissions and by burning orchard waste at a large scale. In the absence of dense forests, which would have filtered pollutants from the air, it’s all coming down with rain, adversely affecting our produce.”

Usha Sharma, a senior scientist at Krishi Vikas Kendra, Shimla, agreed that the rain and storm had hit some apple-growing areas. “Storm caused physical damage like flattening trees at some places and flowers and petals were also damaged. Besides, the frost conditions have also been recorded at some places. All these factors have caused damage at some places,” she added.