Himachal Apple Growers Challenge US and New Zealand Apples with Dwarf Plants
Farmers in Jai village, Gram Panchayat Kyar, Theog Tehsil, Shimla district, are now challenging apples from the US and New Zealand by cultivating high-tech dwarf apple plants. Recently, import duties on apples from the US, New Zealand, and the European Union have been reduced from 50% to 20–25%, raising concerns that demand for traditional varieties may decline.
In response, many young farmers are planting at least 350 dwarf plants per acre. One dwarf plant can yield up to 20 kg of apples, while larger trees produce only 40–50 trees per acre with an average of three cartons per plant.
Local farmer Sunil Sharma has planted 1,700 dwarf plants on M9 rootstock, growing varieties like Red Delicious and Gala. Deepak Mehta has been using this technique for 7–8 years and has around 4,000 dwarf plants. Other growers, including Narendra Sharma, Suresh Sharma, and Kuldeep Kant Sharma, have also adopted this method.
Kunal Chauhan, who imports dwarf plants from Italy for local farmers, says Himachal has surpassed Kashmir in cultivating these plants due to favorable land conditions. He emphasizes providing farmers with quality rootstock and subsidies.
Theog MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore stated that the government will consider new measures to support such innovative apple growers.
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