Decline of Native Apple Varieties and Its Impact on Orchard Productivity

Most of the people living in the rural areas of our valley are connected with the production of apples, it being one of the major sources of our economy. In pursuit of gaining higher returns, people have adopted new varieties and imported qualities of crops that not only yield good produce but are also of superior quality and high market demand.

The older traditional varieties that we once had, which were native to our region, are no longer found in the more advanced horticultural areas. These old varieties have almost disappeared, even though they were well adapted to the local conditions, resistant to diseases and pests, and required far less use of pesticides. One of their biggest advantages was that they acted as pollinators, helping ensure good fruit set even in the newer varieties.

Now, with these traditional trees absent and orchards dominated by imported varieties, pollination has become more difficult. Apples require cross-pollination to bear fruit, and without suitable pollinizer trees, fruit set declines. As a result, production has reduced significantly in some orchards. For example, an orchard in our vicinity that once produced 200–300 apple boxes (each box containing about 100 apples) now yields only 10–15 boxes per year, mainly due to the lack of pollinizer species.

To compensate for this, farmers have started using growth regulators to increase production. While these chemicals can lead to bumper crops, they often come at the cost of the long-term health of the trees. Moreover, in areas like ours where irrigation facilities are limited and we depend largely on natural precipitation, a heavy fruit load can be risky. In years of low rainfall, such stress can damage the trees and even reduce future productivity. This makes the use of growth regulators a gamble, as the investment may sometimes backfire.

This year, I also sprayed growth regulators, and at present the fruits have just started developing. The crop looks promising so far. I only hope that the weather remains favorable, with adequate precipitation throughout the year, so that the trees stay healthy and we are able to harvest a good yield at the end of the season.

Thank you.