Thirty-two-year-old Aasheesh Mehta was plucking the first batch of season’s apples in his Kotgarh farm when he received a call from an international magazine to work as a music journalist. At the time, Aasheesh was running a popular website featuring information on metal music and had performed as a guitarist in several cities. As he stood in his gumboots on the wet ground between rows of apple stalks, Aasheesh had a career choice to make. For him, the decision had never been more clear.
Aasheesh is one of many youngsters in Himachal Pradesh that are now dedicated to full-time apple farming. From architecture to engineering backgrounds, many have given up on corporate jobs and lucrative opportunities to come back to the valley for the purpose of farming. In the process, the young farmers are using innovative skill sets to bring agricultural reforms through technology and international exposure. The heart of Himachal Pradesh’s economy lies in apple production. More than 2 lakh people are involved in apple farming and the apple industry is worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore.
In the early 1900s, an American Samuel Evan Stokes, who later came to be known as Satyanand Stokes, brought the first seedlings of apples from Philadelphia to Kotgarh where he was working in a Christian missionary.
The very first variety of apples that were planted came to be known as Red Delicious and it ushered in a new era for the state. Local farmers began investing in apple orchards which would yield returns within 7-10 years. Samuel’s daughter-in-law, Vidya Stokes, a household name in the state, represented the country in hockey in tournaments and went on to become an eight-time MLA.
The history of apples that shaped the identity of people in the region is an important factor that prompted their return to the roots. “We have seen how hard our fathers and grandfathers have worked for our farms. There used to be a time when there were no roads, and things would be brought manually. In many aspects, it is still the same. There is a sense of responsibility that we owe to these lands,” said Aasheesh Mehta.
Kunal Chauhan (34), a Kotkhai resident, is a computer application graduate who also worked in Dell technologies briefly. He returned to his 50 bheega farms, nearly a decade ago, due to family circumstances, but since then he has spent several years studying apple farming techniques. Kunal makes annual visits to Italy to interact with farmers and learn innovative methods. Areas such as South Tyrol in Italy have one of the largest producers of apples in the world.
Kunal and Aasheesh together run a horticulture consultancy company called Treetch that helps farmers set up orchards and provide landscaping and trellis solutions. There is a shift of focus from traditional farming methods to High-Density Plantation (HDP). In the newer set-up, there is a higher plant population per unit, lesser input cost, and a shorter period for fruit growth.
“Like any other field, we must keep up with the times. Over the years, the rate of return has been declining. There is a specific period for fruit ripening, and in the traditional method, it is longer. With newer techniques, fewer resources are deployed. We have set up dozens of HDP farms as slowly more people are accepting them,” said Kunal Chauhan.
In a typical HDP farm, poles nearly 5-metre tall are placed in a row on top of which anti-hail nets can be placed uniformly. The seedlings are planted along the row with clips attached to the stalk of the trees to prevent it from bending. The layout is mechanised and the look mirrors the orchards of South Tyrol. The spaces between the poles are left as it is and can be used for working and moving equipment and most importantly, for sun penetration which is a crucial ingredient for timely growth.
Another aspect of HDP is that the labour required for the growth and harvest throughout the year is much less than the one required on traditional farms. In an acre big plantation nestled on flat land in Kotkhai, Kunal Chauhan says that only one person is managing the farm.
“Any venture that is promoted by youngsters is met with resistance. There is an attachment that people have with old orchards and trees, and razing them to the ground to build something new is a concept that people are still trying to fathom. They often feel it is futile. But the new technologies can save resources and get good returns in the market,” said Kunal Chauhan.
In the last four years, more than 120 farmers have opted for HDP solutions from Kunal Chauhan and his team. Workshops for more than 500 farmers have been organised by the team in order to educate them about HDP methods and techniques. Most of the farms now prefer the Gala variety to Red Delicious. Gala requires 600 chilling hours, 400 less than Red Delicious, and is the most common fruit to find its way to the supermarket. The team, in fact, has a license for the Italian Dark Baron Gala variety and anyone, across the country, will have to import the tree through the team.
Siddharth (34), a Kotgarh resident and a generational farmer, is planning to convert his traditional orchard to HDP. As per an initial estimate, the cost to convert his 5 bheega land will be approximately Rs 25-30 lakh. Due to the lesser gestation period for ripening, Shantanu will be recovering the cost of conversion in five years. “There are several market factors that also impact the sale. At the moment, the apples are being sold at Rs 300 kg in metro cities, while the farmers only get Rs 40-55 per kg. The input prices have gone up so much that there will come a time when farmers will abandon their orchards. It is our desperate effort to stay afloat,” said Siddharth .
A nursery named Griba has also come up in the Kotkhai region that imports trees and seeds from Italy for the farmers in HP. Vishal Baekta (33), who has an engineering background and is part of the Griba team with Aasheesh and others, emphasises on market research for better output. “The HPD format is commercially viable. Indian market is obsessed with colour and appearance of the apple. As part of innovation, there has to be different varieties that involve mutation. There are some people studying it and it is a long process. But with the right technology.”
As per estimates, the state produces approximately 10 tonnes per hectare in the traditional method. In the HDP method, 60 tonnes per hectare is an achievable target within next 4-5 years. In terms of plantation, there can be approximately 300 trees per bheega in HDP set-up in comparison to 16-20 large trees in the traditional set-up.
Apple farmers across the region describe a common theme prevalent over the years. They allege that successive governments have failed the cause of apple farmers. Lack of cold storage facilities, lesser procurement prices against competitive market rates, less subsidies, and the absence of a concrete import policy are issues that have affected farmers. Recently, a large-scale protest was held by apple farmers from Kullu, Sirmaur, Shimla and other apple belts against GST hike and rise of input costs. The issue is political.
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For the youngsters, the idea of making apple farmers self-reliant and self-sufficient is one of their key long-term objectives. In the times to come, farmers will also be looking to explore B2C options to further profits. “The ground reality and the level at which policies are framed are two different worlds. On our part, we try to give the farmer an option to maximise his produce and in the end, he alone will be benefited. The industry is facing competition from Kashmir because it has a suitable topography. We cannot rely on the governments for interventions so we take matters into our own hands,” says Vishal Baekta.
Stubble burning: This son of soil fighting fires & minting money also