BITTER HARVEST

Changing weather patterns are wreaking havoc on Indian apples, robbing them of their deep red colour and premium quality

- Moazum Mohammad

Back in 2005, 54-year-old Mohammad Rajab, like others in Bridhaji village in Pahalgam, left maize cultivation and planted apple trees on his 4.5 kanals of land. Apple farming had brought prosperity to many of his neighbours in the village of 150 households, after many of them converted their maize fields into apple orchards from 2000 onwards. Rajab would arrive early in the morning to tend to his apple trees. He would regularly spray them with pesticides and nutrients and employ scientific techniques such as maintaining 10-20 feet distance between them. When the fruit was ripening, he would stay the night at the orchard to protect it from wild bears. "I nurtured the orchard like a child," says Rajab, in the hope that it would fetch him quality yield and profit. Over the past three years, however, recurrent economic losses have forced Rajab to reconsider apple farming.

"The erratic weather, like abrupt rain in the mornings or evenings or a hailstorm during the flowering season, as well as disease outbreak, have made farming untenable here," says Rajab. Until 2020, the orchard would yield Rajab 450 boxes of the Delicious variety, which earned him nearly Rs 2.5 lakh a year. All that changed when early snow in October 2021 devoured apple orchards across the Valley. The damage in Rajab's orchard is still visible, as 70 trees stand with the support of nuts and bolts. "Since then, my orchard does not yield even 35 per cent fruit. We will axe these 100 apple trees and use them as firewood," says a disheartened Rajab, father of five. "My family does not want me to grow apples any more due to economic losses. Like the others, I am going to plant walnut trees next year. They do not need pesticides or care like apples and are not affected by erratic weather."