Himachal’s apple revolution, which spawned an economy worth Rs 1,500 crore, has its roots in the Kotgarh belt in the upper Shimla region, 82 km from here.

The man behind this revolution, which began in 1919, was Samuel Evans Stokes, a Christian missionary, who later converted to Hinduism and became popular by the name Satyanand Stokes, father-in-law of Vidya Stokes, Himachal’s senior Congress politician. Incidentally, Samuel Evans Stokes was also the only American to be jailed for actively participating in India’s freedom struggle.

Stokes not only introduced some of the best varieties of American apples in the area, but also inspired hill farmers to take to a culture of growing apples as a commercial crop. A century later, the apple production has exceeded six lakh metric tonnes.

Now, the apple bowl is ready with another surprise, which is yet unknown to many, both within and outside the state. Gopal Mehta, an innovative horticulturist at village Samathala in Kotgarh-Thanedar area, has set a new record of growing mangoes at a height of 5,000 feet. The experiment, admits state Horticulture Director Gurdev Singh, is going to set a trend for all progressive fruit growers in Himachal.

Mehta recalls having taken up the challenge of growing mangoes in 1992 after he came in contact with some horticulture experts who suggested crop-diversification to him. Since the geographical location of his village was turning out to be unfavourable for apples, he took a chance and went in for mangoes which had never before been cultivated in the Kotgarh belt.

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