Assessment of agroclimatic suitability of apple orchards in Himachal Pradesh under changing climate

Jyoti Singh Jyoti Singh,N R Patel N R Patel

doi:10.54386/jam.v19i2.681

Abstract

Apple crop require adequate chilling for breaking its winter dormancy for a usual spring growth. In this study, suitability of apple production was assessed by using GIS based UTAH chill unit model for tactical and strategic adaptation options under changed climatic scenarios. This analysis consists of spatial chilling zonation from year 1978-2013,delineation of suitability classes for apple productionbased on effective chill units(ECU), and shift in apple belt in Himachal Pradesh under changing climate. The result showed spatial extent of chilling zone having ECU>1500 has declined. The traditional apple crop areas are shifting upward in Himachal Pradesh as a result less suitable areas transforming in unsuitable and severely cold areas which were earlier not suitable are becoming suitable for apple cultivation.

Highlights

Apple is the fourth important fruit crop of India after Mango, Citrus and Banana
Kullu valley the apple belt of state has gone under sharp decline of apple productivity and apple orchards had been replaced by vegetables and fruit varieties in several areas.The increase in minimum temperature was more for the lower elevation areas as compared to higher elevation areas (Rana et al 2012).areas at higher altitudes are becoming more suitable for apple cultivation like Lahaul and Spiti (Rana et al, 2011)
The temperature trends in apple growing regions of Kullu and Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh indicated 1.8 to 4.1°C rise in past few decades which reflected in decrease of effective chill units (ECU) hours accumulations (Rana et al, 2011).Addressing the negative impacts of warming on deciduous fruits, a comprehensive and spatially distributed information on chilling requirements from chill unit models are crucial (Luedeling and Brown, 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Apple is the fourth important fruit crop of India after Mango, Citrus and Banana. Himachal Pradesh is the second largest producer of apple after Jammu and Kashmir (Chadha, 2001). Adverse impact of climate change in Western Himalayas on apple producing areas and productivity is being reported in recent decades (Rana et al, 2009; Chaudhary and Bawa, 2011; Basannagari and Kala, 2013). The temperature trends in apple growing regions of Kullu and Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh indicated 1.8 to 4.1°C rise in past few decades which reflected in decrease of effective chill units (ECU) hours accumulations (Rana et al, 2011).Addressing the negative impacts of warming on deciduous fruits, a comprehensive and spatially distributed information on chilling requirements from chill unit models are crucial (Luedeling and Brown, 2011).

Methods

Results

Conclusion