Himachal Pradesh's ₹5,000 crore apple economy is experiencing a severe production crisis, with output projected to decline by nearly 40% in 2026. According to the horticulture department, apple production stood at 6.99 lakh metric tonnes in 2025, but is estimated to drop to 4.36 lakh metric tonnes during 2026. This represents a decline of 2.63 lakh metric tonnes, equivalent to approximately 2.15 crore boxes. The downturn has been driven by a combination of adverse weather conditions including insufficient winter snowfall, unseasonal spring rains, hailstorms and erratic temperature fluctuations. As reported by PTI, the state's apple economy, valued at around ₹5,000 crore, is likely to shrink in proportion to the decline in production this year, with the crisis described as unprecedented and severe by officials.
The production decline is expected to affect around 2.5 lakh families associated with apple farming across the state. Apple cultivation currently covers 1.16 lakh hectares, accounting for nearly 49% of the state's total fruit crop area of 2.37 lakh hectares. According to Horticulture dept director Satish Kumar, the area under apple cultivation stands at around 1.16 lakh acres, representing 49% of the total area under fruit crops. An additional 27,386 hectares are under stone fruit cultivation, covering 17,306 hectares for stone fruits including apricot, cherry, peach and plum. The area under apple cultivation has expanded substantially over the decades, rising from 400 hectares in 1950-51 to 1,16,338 hectares in 2024-25. Apple cultivation remains the backbone of the farm economy across eight districts of the state.
Apple orchardist Balwant Justa attributed the production decline to unfavourable weather conditions, stating that "neither snow nor rains came on time." Growers have highlighted their dependence on weather patterns due to lack of irrigation facilities. Rising cultivation costs, driven by higher prices of medicines and machinery, have further added to farmer concerns. Apple grower Virender Singh noted that "temperatures are high with inadequate chilling hours; additionally, hailstorms have damaged the apple crop, input costs have increased, and production is going down." According to Harish Chauhan, president of the Fruit Vegetable Flower Growers Association, traditional apple varieties require between 1,200 and 1,600 chilling hours at temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius, while early varieties require around 600 chilling hours. Another orchardist, Raghubeer Singh Chauhan, said that "income is going down and it is becoming difficult to sustain on farming as we are dependent on the weather, and there is a dire need to strengthen irrigation facilities. We are also not aware of the crop insurance schemes."
Stone fruit production has also been affected by adverse weather conditions, with cultivation covering 17,306 hectares. Production is expected to decline marginally from 24,622 last year to around 23,000 this year. According to Kumar, stone fruit crops have also suffered losses due to global warming, climate change and rising temperatures of 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius, although growers are still receiving good returns. Kumar added that Himachal Pradesh's apple economy, valued at around ₹5,000 crore, is likely to shrink in proportion to the decline in production this year. Orchardists have appealed to the government to improve irrigation infrastructure and increase awareness about crop insurance schemes to help farmers recover at least part of their losses. Growers have urged the government to provide irrigation facilities to every orchardist and make them aware about the crop insurance scheme so that the losses could be recovered to some extent.
According to data from the horticulture department, apple production has shown significant variations over recent years, with 3.49 crore boxes in 2025-26, 2.51 crore in 2024-25, 2.11 crore in 2023-24, 3.36 crore in 2022-23, 3.05 crore in 2021-22 and 2.40 crore in 2020-21. This flagging of startling variations and gaps in production highlights the vulnerability of the sector to weather conditions. The state's apple economy was about ₹5,000 crore, but this year it is likely to be proportionately less, Kumar said, adding that the stone fruit production was also on decline due to global warming and climate change, rising temperatures (1 to 1.5 degree Celsius), but the growers are fetching good returns. The crisis has exposed gaps in irrigation and crop insurance support systems that need immediate attention to help farmers recover from these unprecedented losses.
