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 snowless years. He claimed that 75% of his apple orchard comprising 700 trees died due to consecutive lesser or no snowfall and lack of other sources of irrigation.
“Many small farmers who took loans on high interest and invested in apple orchards seem to be slipping in a web of debt as their yield is way below expectation,” said Singh.
Moreover, snowless winters have a domino effect. In the upcoming summer, snow-fed small water streams quickly dry up, causing local conflicts over the scarcity of drinking water and the irrigation of orchards to save the trees. “We are worried about the upcoming summer as less snow will dry up the water stream and pose a challenge to keep our trees alive and pest free,” said Ramkishan Negi, an apple grower in Kinnaur district.
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 Department. Mehta said the warming of the Himalayan region is breaking a decades-old record. “In Solan district, the average period of maximum mean temperature is 10.1°C, which rose to 12.1°C this time. It broke the record for the last 25 years,” said Mehta. She said warmer temperatures have also increased pest and fungal attacks and shifting of apple farms to higher altitudes.
In view of the warmer winter, the state government has been encouraging growers to adopt new varieties of apples with a shorter chilling span. Jagat Singh imported M9 varieties of apple saplings from Italy, which cost him around `10 lakh. “This new variety requires around 600 chilling hours and would adapt to a warming winter,” said Singh. He suggests that the government should provide cheaper loans and facilitate access to climate-smart varieties of apples and irrigation facilities in remote areas.
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.