National Award Winning Apple Varieties Grown By Himachal Farmers Can Be Grown Anywhere In The Country

1. National Award Winning Apple Varieties Grown By Himachal Farmers Can Be Grown Anywhere In The Country It has been discovered that a new variety of apple can be grown in plain, tropical, and subtropical climates thanks to a farmer from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. Many farmers in India are successfully growing a cultivar of apples known as HRMN 99, in a groundbreaking development. Hariman Sharma, 65, a farmer from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, developed the variety, which can be grown at a low altitude (1,800 feet above sea level), to grow apples. Apples are usually grown at a minimum altitude of 5,000 feet above sea level. I worked as a labourer on other farms for many years before starting my own mango orchards in 1998 and cultivated vegetables. In 1999, I bought apple seeds from another farmer in my district and planted them. There was no hope in my eyes that the apple seedling would grow, but it did. Hariman nurtured that seedling with the little knowledge he gained from his farming experience and let it grow,” he says. The tree began growing fruit in two years, but the fruits were small. To improve the apple quality, a stem from a plum tree was grafted onto the apple tree. Since apple trees are not available, I grafted it onto a plum tree. Despite being small, the fruit quality was much better. They were earthy in color, with red tinges on the side, and they were the size of regular apples. Soon, I grafted some more trees, and I created an orchard of eight trees. To this day, these trees continue to bear fruit, and yield one quintal per season. The HRMN 99 apple cultivar is being successfully grown in many Indian states, in what is considered a pioneering development. Hariman Sharma, 65, a farmer from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, developed

2. the variety, which can be grown at low altitudes (1,800 feet above sea level). A minimum height of 5,000 feet is required for apple cultivation. My first job was working as a labourer on another farm for many years. In 1998, I cultivated mango orchards and vegetables and planted apple seeds purchased from another farmer. The apple seedling had sprouted before I had any hopes of it growing, and I nurtured it with the little knowledge I gained from my farming experience, and it grew,” says Hariman. The tree began growing fruit in two years, but the fruits were small. To improve the apple quality, a stem from a plum tree was grafted onto the apple tree. Since apple trees were not available, I grafted it to a plum tree. It was a success, and the fruit quality was much better. They were sized like regular apples, and the color was earth-shade with a red tinge on one side. After grafting some more trees, I created an orchard of eight trees. These trees continue to bear fruits until today, and usually produce one quintal per season,” he says. HRMN 99: What it is? During flowering and fruit setting, this apple variety does not require chilling hours, according to Hariman. Chilling hours refer to the period when the plant is maintained at a certain temperature, usually between 0-7°C, to start producing flowers. During fruit maturity, conventional apple trees can develop scab disease on their surfaces if excessive rain or fog occurs, but the new variety resists this disease. Over the course of 15 state and 5 union territory transplants, the National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF) evaluated how well the HRMN-99 adapts to different agroclimatic conditions. Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan Jammu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi have also seen successful fruiting. “I have distributed over60,000 apple saplings across the country to date,” Hariman says. In addition to that, I grow 205 varieties of plants on my farm, including mangoes, coffee plants, avocados, peaches, litchis, and more.” Some have even gone to Nepal, Germany, Bangladesh, and Africa. In 2017, Hariman, who is now popularly known as ‘Apple man of Bilaspur’ was honoured by the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, for his discovery. Telangana Apple Farming His 13 acre farm in Telangana’s Asifabad produces rice, pulses, cotton, and several varieties of fruit and vegetables. He cleared two acres for the planting of 500 HRMN 99 saplings in 2017. It is very rare for apples to grow in tropical weather. It requires cooling rooms and a lot of care in the first few years. Trying to grow them south of India seemed impossible, but I always enjoyed challenges. It was on a farming group that I discovered HRMN 99, a graft apple variety. Those farmers were growing

3. it successfully in Odisha, and to my knowledge, that region does not experience cold weather. Hariman Sharma gave me some tips on growing it with the help of the horticulture department.” In order to water the saplings, Balaji installed a drip irrigation system. Currently, each tree bears 30 to 40 small apples, making him Telangana’s first apple farmer. CM K Chandrasekhar Rao received a basket of these apples on Telangana State Formation Day this year from Balaji. His goal is to sell his produce at local markets next year.