Over 80% of Indian apple production comes from Jammu and Kashmir, the nation’s largest apple-producing state. From growers to University scientists, the focus is now on improving apple production within this region. Apple production has increased by 15% over the last five years to 2.5 million tonnes. To satisfy this increasing need, scientists like Dr. Dinesh Thakur, a joint director at a regional horticulture research and training center at Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, are focusing on breeding advancements.
Dr. Thakur highlights the importance of this “chill-time,” or cold requirement, for apple production. This time, when winter temperatures are between 0°C and 6°C, is essential to grooving the ideal harvest. While countries like the UK enjoy around 1,000 hours of chill-time, allowing for diverse apple varieties, Indian growers have been struggling to keep pace with the burgeoning demand for quality apples. Most of India’s apples come from two primary regions: Jammu and Kashmir and the neighboring Himachal Pradesh.
In 2024, Dr. Majid Ali’s apple tree yielded only one to two kilograms of apples, which he described as edible but lacking in quality. This is the harsh reality that any apple farmer in non-traditional areas will encounter. On the other side of the country, southern Indian farmer Kakasaheb Sawant is fearlessly pioneering subtropical apple growing in Maharashtra. Though his neighbors were skeptical at first, he refuses to be discouraged.
“My neighbors still think I’ve lost my mind,” noted Sawant. He’s attracted inquisitive tourists from all over the world interested to learn how his apple trees prosper in such a warm climate. He told the story, “My farm has turned into a little local miracle. Visitors come from as far away as Europe to get an eyeful of the apple orchards thriving under the scorching Maharashtra sun. Yet he admits that we’re still in the experimental phase. In fact, we won’t know if it’s a success for three or four years.
Furthermore, as Dr. Thakur notes, apples that are grown in non-traditional areas typically have a limited shelf life and are often not as sweet. He noted, “The fruit that grows in non-traditional regions has a very short shelf life. The taste is not so sweet.” To make matters worse, climatic change is devastating apple growing practices in historic growing regions.
That’s exactly what Dr. Thakur and her team are doing. In particular, they’re creating new climate-resilient apple genotypes that will thrive despite the harsher, more unpredictable climate we’re all facing today. “We are working on climate-resilient apple genotypes that can withstand the existing climate,” he stated. He continued that this research was aimed at growing new apple varieties that would appeal to Indian tastes. Simultaneously, it addresses the growing issues of climate change.
S. Chandrashekhar, who has formerly served as an analyst of India’s apple commerce, says that a serious trend continues. During this same five-year period, imports have nearly doubled to 600,000 tonnes. He noted the trend that as these older orchards age, they grow fewer apples as a result of reduced vigor, a sign of yield loss. “There are a lot of old orchards producing fewer apples – that means the yield is coming down,” he said.
Dr. Thakur expanded on the necessity for the growth of new ideas into old farming practices. “This helps offset erratic weather patterns brought by climate change and has a quality advantage over those areas where colour formation is a problem due to lack of sunlight,” he explained. His team has been working on cutting growing time by creating an apple variety that matures its desired ripe color two months before current apple trees would be ready.
Even with these advancements though, there is still some doubt about the economic practicality of low-chill apples as a commercially valuable crop. Dr. Majid Ali cautioned that cultivation of these varieties as kitchen garden fruit novelties should be discouraged. Their commercial viability remains unproven. “These low-chill apples can be grown as novelty fruit in a kitchen garden, but their viability as a commercial crop is not proven. Most of them are a failure,” he noted.