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India is one of the largest producers of horticultural crops in the world. Fruits and vegetables form the major share in the production of horticultural crops in the country. A large variety of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate fruits are grown in different parts of the country. Apple is an important fruit grown in India today. The production of apples was ranked sixth position in terms of production of the various fruits grown in the country and constituted 2.4 percent of the total fruits produced in India during 2018-19. Apple in India is grown in the mountainous States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Arunachal Pradesh has a diversified economy producing a variety of horticultural crops like apples, oranges, pine apple, ginger, cardamom etc. Apple is an important fruit crop grown in Arunachal Pradesh. Apple cultivation is mainly concentrated in West Kameng district though the fruit is of late also grown in Tawang, Lower Subansiri and Anjaw district.

The paper attempts to study the trend of apple production and productivity in India and Arunachal Pradesh.

Malik (2013) in their study revealed that apple cultivation was the primary occupation of the people of Kashmir valley and it consist of about 90 percent of the total fruit crop grown in the valley. The production of apples in the State increased from 1093.33 thousand metric tonnes in 2004-05 to 1332.01 thousand metric tonnes in 2008-09. The average growth of apples in the State was more than 100 percent during the period. The productivity of apples in the valley was 10.02 tons/ha in 2008-09 which was much higher than the national average of 6.86 tons/ha making it the largest contributor of the State GDP among the horticultural produces. Jadhav (2013) pointed out that India produces more than 28.2 million tonnes of fruits and 66.0 million tonnes of vegetables and it is ranked next to Brazil and China. Horticulture sector witnessed growth of 10.13 percent in production and 4.22 percent in area in 2007-08 over 2006-07. This sector contributes more than 24.5 percent of the agricultural GDP. India is the largest producer of mango and banana with a production of about 41 percent of the world mango and 23 percent of the world banana production. India is the leading producer of apple, citrus, grapes, guava, litchi, papaya, pine apple, pomegranate etc. Bhat and Choure (2014) studied the trend of growth in area and production of apple in Kashmir valley. The study revealed that apple cultivation in the State was increasing both in terms of production as well as productivity because of its comparative advantage over other crops. The State is the largest producer of apple in India and produces 71 percent of the apples produced in India during the year 2008-09. Apple is the most important fruit crop of the State and accounts for about 80 percent of the horticultural produce of the State. The area under apple cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir increased from 107935 hectares in 2004-05 to 138062 hectares in 2009-10. The production of apples increased from 1093335 MT in 2004-05 to 1367805 MT in 2009-2010.

Production of Apple in India

There has been a gradual increase in the area and production of apple cultivation in India.

Table 1

Area, Production and Productivity of Apple in India

Year	Area (In ‘000 HA)	Production (In ‘000 MT)	Productivity (In MT/HA)
1991-92	194	1147	5.9
1992-93	191	1168	6.1
1993-94	205	1298	6.3
1994-95	210	1183	5.6
1995-96	217	1214	5.6
1996-97	222	1308	5.9
1997-97	227	1320	5.8
1998-99	231	1380	6.0
1999-00	238	1047	4.4
2000-01	239	1226	5.1
2001-02	241	1158	4.8
2002-03	193	1348	7.0
2003-04	201	1521	7.6
2004-05	230	1739	7.5
2005-06	226	1814	8.0
2006-07	252	1624	6.4
2007-08	264	2001	7.6
2008-09	274	1985	7.2
2009-10	282	1777	6.3
2010-11	289	2891	10.0
2011-12	321	2203	6.8
2012-13	311	1915	6.1
2013-14	313	2498	7.9
2014-15	320	1885	5.8
2015-16	277	2521	9.1
2016-17	305	2265	7.4
2017-18	301	2327	7.7
2018-19	308	2316	7.5
2019-20	309	2783	9.0

Source: Indian Horticulture Database 2008&2013

Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2020

Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2018

The table shows the fluctuations in the production as well as productivity of apples in India over the past two decade. The area under apple cultivation increased from 194.5 thousand hectares in 1991-92 to 309 thousand hectares in 2019-20. During the decades, the production of apples increased from 1147.7 thousand metric tonnes in 1991-92 to 2783 thousand metric tonnes in 2019-20. In the year 2010-11, the country witnesses a record production of 2891.0 thousand metric tonnes of apples from an area of 289.1 thousand hectares which was 3.9 percent of the total fruit production in the country and the productivity increased to 10 MT/HA. In 2016-17, India was ranked the fifth largest producer of apples in the world but the production of apples had further declined to 2265 thousand metric tonnes resulting to a declined in the productivity to 7.4 MT/HA.  However, in 2019-20, the production of apples increased to 2783 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 309 thousand hectares increasing the productivity to 9.0 metric tonnes per hectares (Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2020).  

  The productivity of apples in India has been fluctuating during the last decades.  The productivity of apples increased from 5.9 Mt/Ha in 1991-92 to 9.0 Mt/Ha in 2019-20. The percentage increase in productivity in 2019-20 over the year 1991-92 was 52.54 percent. The productivity of apple fell to 4.4 Mt/Ha in 1999-2000 which was the lowest productivity of the apples that the country had ever witnessed.  India witnessed the highest productivity of 10.0 Mt/Ha in 2010-11 when the production of apples in India increased to 2891 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 289.1 thousand hectares. The average productivity of apples in 2015-16 was 9.1 Mt/Ha which was low compared to the world average productivity of 16.9 Mt/Ha and the other major apple producing countries like china(18.6 Mt/Ha ), USA (35.6 Mt/Ha).

Production of Apples in Arunachal Pradesh 

 Arunachal Pradesh located at the eastern most corner of north eastern part of India is found suitable for growing a variety of horticultural crops. The State is considered to be a reservoir of a large variety of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, aromatics, spices and flowers. The state being primarily under Jhum cultivation and the limitation of growing field crops in the hills makes horticultural activity a better alternate with higher returns on the hills. Horticulture is now a growing economic activity of the people of the state. The state produces all kinds of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, spices flowers, etc and is known for its unique and good quality fruits and flowers.

Arunachal Pradesh produces a variety of fruits. The different agro climatic and the geographical condition in the different parts of the state enables it to produce a variety of tropical fruits like orange, pineapple, banana, guava etc and temperate fruits like apple, kiwi, plum, walnut etc. The State produced 138.42 thousand metric tonnes of fruits from an area of 49.846 thousand hectares with a productivity of 2.7 metric tonnes per hectares which formed 78 percent of the total horticultural crops produced in the State in 2016-17.

Apple is an important fruit grown in Arunachal Pradesh. The state is the fourth largest producer of apples in India. Arunachal Pradesh is the only state in the north eastern region of India that produces apple on large scale for commercial purposes. Though apple was being produced in the state since long back but it is of recent that the fruit is being produced for commercial purposes. Arunachal Pradesh produced 11.66 thousand metric tonnes of apples from an area of 6.1 thousand hectares with a productivity of 1.8 metric tonnes per hectare in 2016-17. The production of apple constituted 8.4 percent of the total fruit produced in the State in 2016-17. The production of apple in the State has been steadily increasing every year as a result of which the share the share of the State in the national production increased from 0.3 percent in 2010-11 to 1.3 percent in 2011-12 and then to 1.6 percent in 2012-13. The different varieties of apple grown in the State are Royal Delicious, Golden Delicious, Mollies Delicious, Cooper-4, Starkrimson etc. The details are shown in the table below:-

Area, Production and Productivity of Apples in Arunachal Pradesh

(Area in ‘000HA, Production in ‘000MT and Productivity in MT/HA)

Year	Area	Production	Productivity
1999-2000	6.6	8.2	1.2
2000-2001	6.7	8.5	1.3
2001-2002	6.9	8.6	1.2
2002-2003	7.3	8.8	1.2
2003-2004	7.9	9.3	1.1
2004-2005	8.4	9.5	1.1
2005-2006	9.1	9.6	1.1
2006-2007	9.8	9.8	1.0
2007-2008	10.8	9.8	0.9
2008-2009	10.8	9.8	0.9
2009-2010	12.8	10.0	0.8
2010-2011	12.8	10.0	0.8
2011-2012	13.9	30.5	2.2
2012-2013	14.07	31.0	2.2
2013-2014	14.27	31.87	2.2
2014-2015	14.50	32.00	2.2
2015-2016	4.6	7.2	1.5
2016-2017	6.1	11.6	1.8

 Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Arunachal Pradesh,

           -Indian Horticulture Database 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013,

          - Statistical Abstract of Arunachal Pradesh from 2000 to 2017.

 Thus, the table reveals that the State witnessed an increasing trend in the area and production of apple.

 Apple being a temperate crop is mainly grown in the higher altitudinal districts of Tawang, West Kameng and Lower Subansiri. Anjaw, Dibang Valley and West Siang are the other districts where apples are being produced in small quantities. West Kameng, Tawang and Lower Subansiri are the three leading apple producing districts of Arunachal Pradesh producing 80 percent of the apples produced in the State respectively. 

Apple cultivation is at a nascent stage in the State. The people of the State have recently started the cultivation of apples for commercial purpose. The production of apples was introduced in the State only a few decades ago. In the course of few decades apple production has spread in the State but the rate of diffusion has been slow because of the in accessibility of many areas. However, though the area under apple cultivation has been increasing, the productivity of apples has been low in the State as compared to the other major apple producing States in India like Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The agro climatic condition and topography of the districts like West Kameng, Tawang, Lower Subansiri, Anjaw, Dibang Valley has been found suitable for the cultivation of apples. Therefore, the State should encourage the farmers to take up apple cultivation on a large scale for commercial purpose.

Journals 1. Bhat, T.A. and Choure, T. (2014): “Status and Strength of Apple Industry in Jammu and Kashmir”, International Journal of Research, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 277-283. 2. Jadhav, M. T. (2013) “Horticulture Development in India”, Journal of Current Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 13-17. 3. Malik, Z. A. (2013): “Assessment of Apple Production and Marketing Problems in Kashmir Valley”, Journal of Economics and Social Development, Vol. IX, No. 1, pp. 152-156. Government Gazetteers and Reports 4. Government of Arunachal Pradesh (2006): Annual Report: 2008-09, Department of Horticulture, Itanagar. 5. Government of Arunachal Pradesh (2014): Directorate of Horticulture, Itanagar. 6. Government of Arunachal Pradesh (2005): Arunachal Pradesh Human Development Report 2005, Department of Planning, Itanagar. 7. Government of Arunachal Pradesh (2012): District Statistics Handbook of West Kameng District, 2011-12, District Statistics Office, Bomdila, West Kameng. 8. Government of Arunachal Pradesh (1991 to 2017): Statistical Abstract of Arunachal Pradesh, Various issues from 1991 to 2017, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Itanagar. 9. Government of India (2018): Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2018, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture &, Farmers’ Welfare, New Delhi. 10. Government of India (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014): Indian Horticulture Database 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013, National Horticulture Board, Ministry of agriculture, New Delhi. 11. Government of India (2012): State wise Horticulture Status, National Horticulture Mission, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi. 12. Government of India (2018): Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2020, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture &, Farmers’ Welfare, New Delhi.