Indian scientists search for the perfect apple

“My neighbors think I have lost my mind,” says farmer Kakasahib Sawant.

In 2022, he decided to plant some apple trees, not crazy for farms unless you, like Mr. Sawant, live in the subtropical southern India, where temperatures can reach 43 degrees Celsius.

He bought 100 seedlings, of which 80 survivors. Last year, each tree produced between 30 and 40 kilograms of fruit.

“My farm has become a bit of a local miracle. People travel from distant places only to see apple trees grow under the rays of the hot state of Maharashtra.”

It was not unqualified success. One problem is that apples are not sweet enough for sale.

Mr. Swanant is still enthusiastic. It has achieved some success in selling Apple Tree seedlings and is optimistic about the future harvest.

“This is the beginning. The trees acclimate, so these trees will begin to withstand good and sweet apples in the four years to the next five.”

In his small way, Mr. Sawant hopes to meet the increasing demand for India for apples.

Production has increased by 15 % over the past five years to 2.5 million tons.

But this does not keep pace with the demand, and India’s imports have doubled to almost 600,000 tons during the same period, according to Candracekar, who analyzes the apple trade in India.

“We have a lack of apple production,” he says. “There are not many new players … at the same time, and there is no new investment.”

It is necessary for a good apple crop for a long period of winter temperature between 0 degrees Celsius and 6 EGP.

Countries like the United Kingdom, which includes about 1,000 hours of this cold time, can produce almost a variety of apples.

But in the regions of India with these conditions are limited.

Most of India’s apples come from two regions in the north of the country -jammu, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Chandracekar says that many farms in those areas have become less productive.

“There are a lot of old orchards that produce less apples – this means that the return is declining,” he says.

He says climate change makes conditions less convert.

In the hope of expanding Apple’s production to new areas, some scientists and farmers experience the so -called low -solid varieties.

These are apple trees that can produce crops with about 400 hours of temperatures between 0C and 6C.

Ranchi, East India is also not the apple cultivation area – its semi -tropical climate is very hot.

But researchers at BirSa Agricultural University (BAU) test 18 seedlings of three low -coincidences.

Success has been limited yet – only one of the items produced any fruit.

“The plants did not reach the optimum sizes. The tree only gave us about one to a kilogram of apples in 2024. I do not say they are of better quality, but they were edible,” says Dr. Majid Ali.

He says that in addition to an unfavorable climate, local soil is not perfect for apple trees and trees being attacked by termites.

“This is an experimental stage. To reach a conclusion, it will take it from three to four years to say if it is successful.”

He says that some local farmers were also experimenting with low -steam apple varieties, and also with a little success.

Some are skeptical that the apples are implanted in hot areas will be a commercial proposal.

“The fruit that grows in the unconventional areas has a very short age. The taste is not very nice,” says Dr. Denish Thakur, Assistant Director of the Center for Research and Training of Horticultural Culture at Dr. Yeeis Barrmar University of Gardening and Forests.

“These low -hard apples can be cultivated as modern fruits in the kitchen garden, but they have not been proven to have a commercial crop … most of them failed,” he says.

Dr. Thakur is located in the northern northern Apple region of Himachal Pradesh and his research focuses on improving apples through reproduction.

“Climate change creates chaos in apple cultivation,” he says.

He says that the number of hours of chilling will be lost and because of the wrong weather conditions, farmers face huge financial losses every year.

In searching for better conditions, some orchards are planted in higher locations, which were considered to be very cold, he says.

Under a government sponsorship project, its team experiences 300 species of apples, to assess the effect of climate change.

“We are also working on the genetic patterns of the reference climate that can afford the current climate,” he says.

So far, they have developed an apple that ripens in a mature color two months before the existing apple trees.

“This helps to compensate for the irregular weather patterns that climate change brings and has a quality advantage over those areas where the formation of colors is formed due to a lack of sunlight,” says Dr. Thakur.

“This is just the beginning of research to create flexible fruits climate and create an acceptable fruit in the bud of Indian taste.”

For Mr. Chandrashekhar, the increase in Apple production in India will take more than just scientific work.

“The age of apple groves in traditional apple cultivation areas is 15 to 20 years. What is required is to cultivate new seedlings,” he says.

“The industry needs an investment, a huge investment. Who will do that?” He asks.

He wanted to see juice and jam, to provide the industry with another source of income.

“This must be a strengthening that can improve the Apple economy and provide a better position for apple farmers.”