Hail’s back,Himachal apples hit hard again

Official estimates on the losses the hailstorms caused to the state’s fruit economy till last week already stands at Rs 150-200 crore. And with Wednesday’s hailstorm in some of the densely infested apple pockets uprooting trees,the picture looks grimmer.

Apple growers have already disputed the official figures,claiming losses to the tune of over Rs 500 crore till now. “Unusual fluctuations in the weather,poor pollination and lack of innovations in the orchard management are some of the primary factors adversely hitting the state’s apple industry. We are heading for difficult times,if measures are not taken to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” warns Ram Lal Chauhan,a leading apple orchardist at Kotkhai.

Admits Horticulture Director Gurdev Singh: “It is the second successive year when we are witnessing unstable weather,hailstorms and drop in temperature. One survey of the losses has already been done and the report submitted to the government. But it is happening every day in some area or the other. One really wonders if we have any hope of a stable and predictable apple season.”

Besides recurring damage due to hailstorm and rains,what is worse for the apple crop is low temperature and the chill factor. The plants at the stage of fruit settings usually need a temperature of more than 18 degrees Celsius but it is shockingly low at present.

The areas lashed by hailstorm,resulting in heavy damage to the crop,are Jubbal,Kotkhai ,Thanedar and Rohru areas of Shimla — known as state’s apple bowl — besides parts of Kullu,Mandi,Chamba and Sirmour. “In some parts,including Kharapather to Chajpur,Baggi,Ratnari and the entire Tikkar sub-tehsil,2 to 3 cm of hails have settled in the apple farms,” says Rohit Thakur,a former MLA of Jubbal-Kotkhai who has been accusing the state government of being apathetic towards the farmers.

While Thakur wants the state to provide anti-hail nets to apple farmers,the hailstorms did not spare the areas where the government had installed anti-hail guns — first time in the country — as part of a pilot project.

Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta,who introduced anti-hail guns,says: “Hailstorms are not new to the mountains and apple growing areas. The government is closely monitoring the success/failure of the anti-hail guns. But,there are other measures like weather-based crop insurance to protect the farmers against losses of this kind.”

Bragta says a proposal has been sent to the Centre to give funds for purchasing more anti-hail guns to cover 30 blocks in 10 districts. He blames the Centre for not releasing money to even pay compensation to the farmers.

Last year too,which saw a very low crop season,apples worth Rs 500 crore were damaged by hailstorm.

Apple is grown over 1 lakh hectares in Himachal. More than 15 lakh farmers in seven districts depend on this for a living.

The apple production had crossed about 4.50 crore boxes in 2010,while it was only 2.5 crore boxes last year.

“Last year,the apple could bring a return of Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,700 crore only .That too because farmers got good price in the market because of poor apple season. This year,the initial damage has sounded alarms,” feels Pradeep Chauhan,Advisor,Economics and Statistics.

Director,Meteorological Centre,Manmohan Singh,who is a member of the technical committee on anti-hail guns,says the impact of the contraption was limited to 1 sq km only. “To ensure its effectiveness and protection against hailstorm over a large area,more anti-hail guns have to be installed,” he says.