Himachal Pradesh: Desperate farmers in Kinnaur are scrambling snow from distant heights to protect apple orchards

Snowless winter pushing apple growers to debt in Himachal Pradesh

From January 1 to February 13, there was a 77% reduction in precipitation across Himachal Pradesh

Warmer winter conditions have led to premature bud break and early flowering, resulting in poor fruit setting, quality and reduced yield.Experts believe that if these conditions continue, the fruit and crop yields may suffer significant losses endangering food security. (Photographs by Rohit Prashar)

Rohit Prashar

Publied 13 February 2025

Amid a plunge in snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, farmers in Kinnaur district have now resorted to transporting snow from upper heights to ensure the survival of their apple plantations.

The lack of snowfall in Himachal Pradesh has left apple growers in the lurch. Snowless and warmer winter conditions there increased fungal infection, forced growers to spend more on pesticides and reduced apple production in the state. The snowless winter trend that began three years ago, potentially pushed a whole lot of apple growers into a web of debt.

Data shows that snow and rainfall deficits in Himachal Pradesh have been between -58% and -90% in different districts since January 1, 2025. Snow helps apple orchards maintain adequate soil moisture and control pests, such as root-borer and other fungi, germs and pathogens. There are reports of small apple growers bringing snow from the higher reaches in the state in their traditional kilta basket on their backs to protect their plants.

A warmer winter with no snowfall led to premature bud break and early flowering, resulting in poor fruit setting, quality and reduced yield. “The absence of snowfall — white manure for apple growers — affected our investment,” said Jagat Singh, a traditional apple grower in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh who faced three consecutive.

These cultivators bring snow in pick up trucks and lorries and spread it at the stem of the apple plant. This desperate bid by cultivators somehow ensures that the apple plant retains the moisture it needs to attain fruition.

Apple cultivators in the Ropa Valley of Kinnaur, situated in close proximity with the India-Tibet border are aghast at steep reduction in snowfall in this season. It’s a precarious situation and hundreds of farmers are staring at the prospect of a loss-making low yield. Desperate times

Suresh Borish, an orchardist from Ropa Valley, told Thinking Boxx Team that over the past two decades, there have been significant changes in the weather patterns in his region.

“Due to the lack of irrigation facilities, the farmers are entirely reliant on rainfall and snowfall. However, with the decrease in snowfall, they are now facing challenges in maintaining moisture in the plants. He explained that the snow that falls now only lasts for two or three days, whereas the apple plants require moisture for a longer period,” Borish said.

“To address this, the farmers gather snow from areas that are less exposed to direct sunlight. At such locations, the snow stays frozen for longer durations and are situated as far as five kilometres from the orchard. We bring the snow in mini-trucks and place it around the trunks of the apple plants. This helps maintain moisture for a longer time, increasing the survival rate of the plants. Without this, newly planted trees are at risk of severe damage due to dryness,” the cultivator explained further.

Kishore Sharma, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, told Thinking Boxx Team that maintaining moisture in plants is a major challenge for farmers this year due to the dry conditions. He noted that the drought could reduce yields by as much as 30 per cent. Health

Agriculture

Himachal Pradesh: Desperate farmers in Kinnaur are scrambling snow from distant heights to protect apple orchards

From January 1 to February 13, there was a 77% reduction in precipitation across Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh: Desperate farmers in Kinnaur are scrambling snow from distant heights to protect apple orchards

Experts believe that if these conditions continue, the fruit and crop yields may suffer significant losses endangering food security.Photographs by Rohit Prashar

Thinking Boxx Team blished on:

13 Feb 2025, 5:42 pm

Amid a plunge in snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, farmers in Kinnaur district have now resorted to transporting snow from upper heights to ensure the survival of their apple plantations.

Desperate times

Suresh Borish, an orchardist from Ropa Valley, told Thinking Boxx Team that over the past two decades, there have been significant changes in the weather patterns in his region.

Warming mountain

In the dormant stage, apples need at least 1,200 hours of chilling below 7.5°C during winter, especially in January and February, to get robust bud break and flowering. “Lack of chilling hours led to early flowering and poor fruit setting, which finally reduced production,” said Rakesh Singha, leader of the apple growers association in Himachal.

Apple production in the state has been declining since 2015, when the total number of boxes produced was 3.88 crore (1 box = 25 kg). It dropped to 3.36 crore boxes in 2022, 2.11 crore in 2023 and 2.09 crore in 2024.

Scientists say the weaker western disturbances and subsequent lesser snowfall led to warmer conditions in Himachal Pradesh. The relatively warm temperature in January broke records of the last 25 years in apple-growing regions of the state.

Between January 1 and February 9, the state experienced -74% deficient rainfall. Districts like Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Una witnessed deficient rainfall of around 90%. Similarly, other districts experienced deficient rainfall in the range of -58% to -85%.

However, snowfall and rainfall were around 29% above normal in December. “The rainfall in December was good but erratic with a longer dry spell,” said Dr Poornima Mehta, a scientist at the Agrometeorology field unit of Solan district of the India Meteorological.

Cheaper import

Besides climate, growers are also concerned about cheaper imports of apples, which keep supprssing the market price. India imports apples from 44 countries, but the threat is mostly from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Apples from these three nations are relatively cheaper than the Indian varieties. “Because of cheaper imports, our farmers are unable to compete,” said Harish Chauhan, convener of the Joint Kisan Manch.

Kishore Sharma, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, told Thinking Boxx Team that maintaining moisture in plants is a major challenge for farmers this year due to the dry conditions. He noted that the drought could reduce yields by as much as 30 per cent. Moreover, if these conditions persist, there is a risk of increased plant diseases in the future.

Desperate measures

Borish mentioned that the traditional ‘royal’ variety of Apple, which was once abundant in the region, has now receded to higher altitudes.

“Farmers in the area are now planting varieties like ‘spur’ to adapt to the changing climate and ensure better yields,” the farmer shared.

According to the India Meteorological Department, rainfall in Himachal Pradesh was 41 per cent below average between October and December. Additionally, from January 1 to February 13, there was a 77 per cent reduction in rainfall. In Kinnaur district, rainfall was 41 per cent lower between October and December, and 90 per cent lower between January and February. Additionally, February has seen 84 per cent less rainfall than usual.

This year, early flowering has been observed in fruits and rhododendron plants in Himachal Pradesh. Experts believe that if these conditions continue, the fruit and crop yields may suffer significant losses endangering food security.

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