Apple’s poor April weather is gloomy

The unfavorable weather patterns seen over the last several days have caused anxiety and concern among Kullu horticulturists.

The area’s apple trees have begun to bloom, but the amount of apples produced has been impacted by the blooms being shed by severe winds and hailstorms.

To the producers’ dismay, the valley experienced rainfall throughout the blossoming season of the previous year. The orchardists are concerned that there could be rain this time around as well, given the unpredictable nature of the weather.

The horticulturists in Parvati Valley claim that last year’s apple tree blossoms in the valley and other low-lying places were severely damaged by high winds and hailstorms in March.

Jari hamlet in the valley’s Dheeraj, an orchardist, stated: “Horticulturists were expecting good setting of fruits this time.” But April’s unfavorable weather is causing problems for farmers cultivating apple harvests. If the bad weather continues, things might get out of hand.

Horticulturists in the area get hundreds of millions of rupees in annual revenue from their horticultural products.

Katrain village horticulture Jitender stated: “Last year too, bad weather badly damaged crops worth Rs 100 crore in the district, causing orchardists to suffer huge financial losses.” The government lost money during the same period. The bad weather also had a significant impact on apple and pear harvests, particularly in the low-lying regions.

This season, plum and pear harvests were harmed by the drought in December and January, and the blossoming apple trees are already suffering damage from high winds.

The farmers’ problems will only get worse as the Meteorological Department predicts more bad weather starting tomorrow.

The sector that contributes most to the region’s economy is horticulture.

Eighty percent of the people in the Kullu district work in horticulture. The bulk of the orchardists in the valley rely on apples as their primary source of income.

Typically, the area generates between 50 and 80 lakh apple boxes annually, bringing in around Rs 1,000 crore in revenue. Additionally, hundreds of individuals in Kullu are employed by Apple.

In the area, some 30,000 hectares of fruit are grown, and that number is rising daily.