Impact of Climate Change on Apple Phenology and Adaptability of Anna Variety (Low Chilling Cultivar) in Lower Hills of Uttarakhand
Pankaj Nautiyal, Ritika Bhaskar, Gaurav Papnai, Neeraj Joshi, Varun Supyal
Abstract
Apple being a temperate fruit is been widely grown under a large area in the Himalayan regions of India because of the favorable climatic conditions. Mountains are however amongst the most fragile experiencing extreme weather conditions, like rising temperature, uneven precipitation, spring hailstorms, and cold waves which severely affect the production of temperate crops. The traditional apple cultivation in Uttarakhand hills is under stress due to climate change. The instances of these adverse conditions impact could be observed on plant phenology, bud bursting, blossoming, fruit retention, fruit yield and quality. The rising temperature widely affects the chilling requirement for apple fruit, which is the pre-requisite for blossoming of apple fruit. Insufficient chilling greatly influence fruit set whereas, hailstorm during spring season causes frost injury and deteriorate the fruit quality. Evidences of poor climatic condition leads to the shifting of apple cultivation towards crop like kiwi and pomegranate. Development of low chill cultivars with greater adaptation is the viable approach that can be adopted to fetch good production of apple fruit and to maintain the commercial importance of apple fruit in hilly regions. Under the stressful condition, Anna variety of apple performs well and can with stand under low chilling requirements in lower hills of Uttarakhand.