CHAPTER THREE PRODUCTION OF APPLES IN INDIA AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH

CHAPTER THREE
PRODUCTION OF APPLES IN INDIA AND ARUNACHAL

PRADESH-AN INTROSPECTION

3.1 Introduction

India is basically an agrarian economy with more than fifty percent of
the population engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Agriculture sector
provides employment to 58 percent of the work force and contributes about 14.2
percent of the Gross Domestic Product (Jadhav, 2013). Horticulture is an
important component of Indian agricultural sector. The diverse agro climatic
condition and varied soil type of India has been proved suitable for growing all
types of horticultural crops. Horticultural sector not only provides nutritional
security to the people but also sustains a number of agro based industries,
generates additional employment and helps in diversification of the agricultural
sector. Since nineties, India has experienced a shift in the cropping pattern from
food grains like rice, coarse cereals, cereals, and pulses to high value cash crops
like fruits and vegetables, spices, flowers, plantation crops. The economic
feasibility of the shift from cereals to high value cash crops like fruits and
vegetables, plantation crops etc has been proved viable and beneficial by a
number of studies done in India (Siwach et al. 2008). Horticulture sector has
successfully transformed the traditional subsistence farming of the rural
agricultural sector to profitable economic activity.

In addition to the favourable agro climatic condition for horticultural
crops that India enjoys, the high priority accorded to the sector since nineties
and successful implementation of the various horticultural development
programmes led to a significant increase in the area and the production of the
horticultural crops in the country. Horticultural sector received much priority in
the Seven Five Year Plan with an enhancement in the budgetary allocation and
knowledge based technology and the post 1993 period was marked as the
decade was marked as “Golden Revolution” in horticultural production.
However, the country did not witness much impressive growth in area and

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production of horticultural crops during the decade. The area under horticultural
crops also increased from 12.8 million hectares in 1991-91 to 19.2 million
hectares in 2003-04 and the production increased from 96.6 million metric
tonnes to 153.3 million metric tonnes during the period. The productivity of
horticultural crops increased marginally from 7.5 MT/HA in 1991-92 to 8.0
MT/HA in 2003-14 (Indian Horticulture Database 2006). The National
Horticulture Mission was then launched by the Government of India in 2005-06
for the development of horticultural sector in India (Choudhary, 2013).

Today, India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in
the world next to China with a production of 81285 thousand metric tonnes of
fruits and 162187 metric tonnes of vegetables in 2012-13. India contributed
more than 13 percent of the world fruit production and 14 percent of the world
vegetable production in 212-13. Horticulture sector accounts for about 13.08
percent of the gross cropped area in the country and contributes 28 percent of
the agricultural GDP and 37 percent of the total export of the agricultural
commodities (Lone and Sen, 2014). Fruits and vegetables form the single
largest sub sector of the horticultural sector accounting for 68 percent of the
area and more than 90 percent of the production of the horticultural crops in
2012-13. India is today the leading producer of fruits like mango, banana,
citrus, papaya, guava etc and vegetables like brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra,
onion, potato etc in the world. India is also the largest producer of cashew in the
world and accounted for 39.47 percent of the world cashew production in 2010
(Senthil and Mahesh, 2013).

India is ranked as one of the largest producer of horticultural crops in the
world and also exports a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, processed fruits
and vegetables, fruit and vegetable seed, dried and preserved vegetables,
flowers etc to countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, and Malaysia etc. In fact, there has been an impressive growth in the
export of horticultural products from India. The export of horticultural produces
increased from 17,11,493 metric tonnes valued `2,80,075 lakhs in 2004-05 to

3701562.92 metric tonnes valued `10,59,403.33 lakhs in 2012-13. The share of

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fresh fruits and fresh vegetables in the total export of horticultural products was
16 percent and 34 percent respectively in 2006-07 which increased to 23.7
percent and 32.9 percent respectively in 2012-13 (Indian Horticulture Database,
2013). The major fruits exported from India are mango, grapes and walnut.

3.2 Production of Horticultural Crops in India

There has been a rapid growth in the production of horticultural crops in
India. The details are shown in the figure 3.1.

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2006 and 2013
However, there were fluctuations in the production of horticultural crops

in India. For example, during 2001-02 and 2002-03, there was a fall in the
production of horticultural crops. Since, 2003-04, there was a steady increase in
the horticultural crop production. The details are shown in the Table 3.1.

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Table 3.1
Growth Trend in Area, Production and Productivity of Horticultural
Crops in India
Year Area Production Productivity
(In Million HA) (In Million MT) (In MT/HA)

1991-1992 12.8 96.6 7.5

1992-1993 12.9 107.4 8.3

1993-1994 13.0 114.7 8.8

1994-1995 13.1 118.3 9.0

1995-1996 13.7 125.4 9.1

1996-1997 14.3 128.4 8.9

1997-1998 14.7 128.6 8.7

1998-1999 15.1 146.2 9.6

1999-2000 15.2 149.2 9.8
2000-2001 15.7 150.1 9.5

2001-2002 16.6 145.8 8.8

2002-2003 16.3 144.4 8.9

2003-2004 19.2 153.3 8.0

2004-2005 18.4 166.9 9.0

2005-2006 18.7 182.8 9.8

2006-2007 19.4 191.8 9.9
2007-2008 20.2 211.2 10.5

2008-2009 20.7 214.7 10.4

2009-2010 20.9 223.1 10.7

2010-2011 21.8 240.5 11.0

2011-2012 23.2 257.3 11.1

2012-2013 23.7 268.8 11.3

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2006 and 2014

Figure 3.1 shows that the production of horticultural crops which was
96.6 million metric tonnes in 1991-92 increased to 268.8 million metric tonnes
in 2012-13. An attempt was also made to estimate the exponential growth rate
of horticultural crop production in India during the period 1991-91 to 2012-13
as follows:

lnY= 1.983+0.019t
R2=0.968, 2= 0.967, n=22

Where, Y is the total production

The annual average exponential growth rate was found to be 1.9 percent
which is significant at 0.01 level. Thus, the production of horticultural crops in
India grew at an average rate of 1.9 percent during the period. It was also found

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that there was also a proportional increase in the land under horticultural crops.
For example, the area under horticultural crops increased by 1.9 times during
1991-92 to 2012-13 period, the production of horticultural crops increased by
2.8 times and as a result the productivity increased by only 1.5 times during the
same period.

3.3 Production of Major Horticultural Crops in India

The horticultural crops have a wider connotation and it includes a
number of crops like Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and Spices etc. Hence, an
attempt was made to examine change in the area, production and productivity of
the different component of horticultural crops which are shown in Table 3.2

Table 3.2
Area and Production of Important Horticultural Crops Grown in India

(Area in ‘000 HA, Production in ‘000 MT)

2001-02 2011-12

Commodity % of the % of the
Area Prod. total Area Prod. total
Production Production.

Fruits 4010 43001 29.49 6705 76424 30.90

Vegetables 6156 88622 60.78 8989 156325 63.21

Flowers 106 535 0.36 254 1652 0.66

Plantation crops 2984 9697 6.65 3577 16359 6.61

Spices 3220 3765 2.58 3212 5951 2.40

Others 117 164 0.11 506 566 0.22

Grand Total 16592 145785 100 23242 247277 100

Note: Prod.= Production
Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013

Table 3.2 reveals that among the horticultural crops, the production of
fruits (30.90 percent of the total horticultural crop production) and vegetables
(63.21 percent of the total horticultural production) was highest in the country.
The production of vegetables increased from 88622 thousand metric tonnes
from an area of 6156 thousand hectares in 2001-02 to 156325 thousand metric
tonnes from an area of 8989 thousand hectares in 2011-12. The production of
fruits increased from 43001 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 4010
thousand hectares to 76424 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 6705
thousand hectares over the decade. It is interesting to observe that percentage of
fruits and vegetables in the total production of horticultural crops increased

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marginally from 29.49 percent to 30.90 percent and 60.78 percent to 63.21
percent respectively. However, fruits and vegetables formed the major share in
the production of horticultural crops in the country. Floriculture is another
growing horticultural activity in the country. The highest percentage change in
the area and production among horticultural crops was observed in the case of
flowers. The production of flowers in India increased significantly from 535
thousand metric tonnes from an area of 106 thousand hectares in 2001-02 to
1652 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 254 thousand hectares in 2011-12.
The area under plantation crops also increased from 2984 thousand hectares in
2001-92 to 3577 thousand hectares in 2011-12 while the production increased
from 9697 thousand metric tonnes to 16359 thousand metric tonnes during the
period. The percentage change in the area and production of plantation crops
was 19 percent and 68 percent respectively. The area under spices in India
declined from 3220 thousand hectares in 2001-02 to 3212 thousand hectares in
2011-12 but the production of spices increased from 3765 thousand metric
tonnes to 5951 thousand metric tonnes during the decade. Thus, the percentage
increase in the total area and production of horticultural crops in India was 40
percent and 69 percent respectively during the decade.

3.4 Production of Fruits in India

India is the home to a variety of fruits produced in the world. A large
variety of tropical, sub tropical and temperate fruits are grown in the different
parts of the country. India is today the second largest producer of fruits in the
world next to China with a production of 81285 thousand metric tonnes of fruits
from an area of 6982 thousand hectares in 2012-13 which comprised of about
30 percent of the horticultural crops produced in India and 12.6 percent of the
fruits produced in the world in 2012-13. The details are presented in Table 3.3
and Figure 3.2.

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Table 3.3
All India Area, Production and Productivity of Fruits, 2001-02 to 2012-13
Year Area Production Productivity
(In ‘000 HA) (In ‘000MT) (In MT/HA)

2001-2002 4010 43001 10.7

2002-2003 3788 45203 11.9

2003-2004 4661 45942 9.9

2004-2005 5049 50867 10.1

2005-2006 5324 55356 10.4

2006-2007 5554 59563 10.7
2007-2008 5857 65587 11.2

2008-2009 6101 68466 11.2

2009-2010 6329 71516 11.3

2010-2011 6383 74878 11.7

2011-2012 6705 76424 11.4

2012-2013 6982 81285 11.6

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013
Figure 3.2 shows that there was a steady increase in the production of

fruits in India during the period 2001- 2002 to 2012-13. During the period, it
was found that the annual average exponential growth rate of production fruit
crop was 2.7 percent. On the other hand, the area under fruit crop production

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also increased at an annual average rate of 2.3 percent. Therefore, the
productivity increased only marginally from 10.7 MT/HA to 11.6 MT/HA
during the period. Further, Figure 3.3 analyzes the trend of the fluctuation of the
productivity of fruits during the period.

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013
Let us now turn our attention to the percentage share of the major fruits

in the total production of fruits in India.

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Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013
The figure 3.4 shows that the major fruits produced in India during the

year 2012-13 were banana (32.60 percent), mango (22.10 percent), citrus (12.40
percent), papaya (6.60 percent), guava (3.90 percent), grapes (3.10 percent) and
others fruits (16.80 percent) which includes pineapple, litchi, sapota,
pomegranate etc. The production of apples constituted 2.40 percent of the total
fruits produced in India. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal are the leading
fruit producing states in India.

3.5 Production of Apples in the world

Apple is one of the most widely grown fruit all over the world. China,
United States of America, Turkey, Poland, and India are the leading producers
of apple in the world. The data relating to area, production and productivity of
apples in different countries are shown in Table 3.4

Table 3.4
Major Apple Producing Countries in the World during the year 2012-13

Country Area Production Productivity Percentage
( In ‘000 (In ‘000 (MT/HA) share of the
MT)
HA) World
Production

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China 2060 37000 18.0 48.62
31.0 5.40
USA 132.6 4110 19.2 3.79

Turkey 150.8 2889 14.8 3.78
6.1 2.51
Poland 194.6 2877.3 36.4 2.61
12.7 2.23
India 311.5 1915.3 44.5 2.13
7.7 1.84
Italy 54.7 1991.3
33.7 1.81
Iran 134 1700 12.5 25.22
Chile 36.5 1625 15.7 100

Russian Federation 183.3 1403

France 41.0 1382.9

Others 1533.2 19196.7

World 4832.4 76090.7

Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2013

Table 3.4 shows that the total production of apples in the world during
the year 2012-13 was 76,090.7 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 4832.4
thousand hectares with a productivity of 15.7 MT/HA. China is the leading

producer of apple in the world with a production of 37,000 thousand metric
tonnes of apples from an area of 2060 thousand hectares with a productivity of

18.0 MT/HA which constituted 48.62 percent of the total apple produced in the
world. United States of America was the second largest producer of apple with
a production of 4110 thousand metric tonnes of apples from an area of 132.6
thousand hectares which constituted 5.40 percent of the total apple produced in
the world. Turkey, Poland, India, Italy, Iran are the other leading producer of
apple in the world whose production constituted about 3.79 percent, 3.78
percent, 2.51 percent,2.61 percent, 2.23 percent of the total apple production in
the world respectively. India with a production of 1915.3 thousand metric
tonnes from an area of 311.4 thousand hectares was ranked as the fifth largest
producer of apple in the world and produced 2.51 percent of the total apple
produced in the world. The Table 3.4 shows that although China is the leading
producer of apple in the world, the productivity of apples in China was 18.0

MT/HA which was comparatively less than the productivity of USA, Italy and
Chile. It is also noted that India’s productivity of apple is one of the lowest in

the world.

3.6 Production of Apples in India

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Apple is an important fruit crop grown in India today. Although the
indigenous variety of apples was grown in India for centuries but they were not
popular because of their sour taste. Samuel Evan Strokes of Philadelphia was
the one who started the real beginning of apple cultivation in India. Samuel
Stroke came to India in early 20th century to join the Leprosy Mission of India.
Stroke was convinced that apple cultivation would improve the condition of the
farmers. He imported saplings of Stark Brother’s Delicious variety from United
States in 1916 and planted them in Himachal Pradesh. This variety became very
popular in India because of its taste and the famers of Himachal Pradesh started
the cultivation of Apples (Deodhar et al. 2006). Apple has gained much
popularity over the past few years and different cultivars of apples imported
from different countries of the world have now been spread all over apple
growing States in India. The production of apple was ranked sixth position in
terms of the production of the various fruits grown in the country and
constituted 2.40 percent of the total fruit produced in India in 2012-13. Apple
in India is mainly grown in the mountainous States of Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Table 3.5
Area, Production and Productivity of Apples in India
Area Production Productivity
Year (In ‘000 HA) (In ‘000 MT) (In MT/HA)

1991-92 194.5 1147.7 5.9

1992-93 191.2 1168.3 6.1
1993-94 205.0 1298.3 6.3

1994-95 210.7 1183.1 5.6

1995-96 217.1 1214.6 5.6

1996-97 222.7 1308.4 5.9

1997-97 227.7 1320.6 5.8

1998-99 231.4 1380.4 6.0
1999-00 238.3 1047.4 4.4

2000-01 239.8 1226.6 5.1

2001-02 241.6 1158.4 4.8

2002-03 193.1 1348.4 7.0

2003-04 201.2 1521.6 7.6

2004-05 230.7 1739.0 7.5

2005-06 226.6 1814.0 8.0
2006-07 252.0 1624.0 6.4

2007-08 264.0 2001.0 7.6

2008-09 274.0 1985.0 7.2

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2009-10 282.9 1777.2 6.3

2010-11 289.1 2891.0 10.0

2011-12 321.9 2203.4 6.8

2012-13 311.5 1915.4 6.1
Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2008 & 2013
: State of Indian farmer-A Millennium Study Vol. 11, Horticulture Development

Table 3.5 reveals that there has been a gradual increase in the area under
apple cultivation in India but there have been fluctuations in the production as
well as productivity of apples in India over the past two decades. The area under
apple cultivation increased from 194.5 thousand hectares in 1991-92 to 239.8
thousand hectares in 2000-01. During the nineties, the production of apples
increased from 1147.7 thousand metric tonnes in 1991-92 to 1226.6 thousand
metric tonnes in 2000-01. The area under apple cultivation further increased
from 241.6 thousand hectares in 2001-02 to 282.9 thousand hectares in 2009-
10. The production of apples increased from 1158.4 thousand metric tonnes in
2001-01 to 1777.2 thousand metric tonnes in 2009-10. 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 produced in the country and the productivity increased to 10 MT/HA.
Hence, it can be said that in India, the increase in the production of apples, was
mainly due to the increase in area under production. As a result, the productivity
of apples remained low. The details are shown in the Figure 3.5.

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Source: Indian Horticulture Database, 2008 and 2013

The Figure 3.5 shows that the productivity of apples was fluctuating
during the last two decades. The productivity of apples increased marginally
from 5.9 Mt/Ha in 1991-92 to 6.1 Mt/Ha in 2012-13. The percentage increase in
productivity in 2012-13 over the year 1991-92 was only 3.3 percent.

During 1991-92 to 2012-13, the area under apple production increased
by 60.15 percent but the production increased by 66.87 percent. An attempt was
made to estimate the Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the area
under apple cultivation and production. The value of rank correlation coefficient
(r) was found to be 0.737 which was significant at 0.01 level. Thus, it proves
that there existed a high positive relationship between area and production of
apples and the increase in production of apples in India was mainly due to the
increase in area under apple cultivation.

Finally, an attempt was made to estimate the annual exponential growth
of apple production in India during 1991-92 to 2012-13 as follows:

lnY = 3.006+0.015t
R2 = 0.723, 2 = 0.709 and n = 22
Where, Y is the total Apple production in India, t is the time measured in years,
with origin at 1991-92 and the period covered is 1991-92 to 2012-13, with 22

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observations (value of n). The average annual exponential growth rate was
found to be 1.5 per cent, which is significant at 0.01 level. Thus, the production
of Apple in India grew at an average rate of 1.5 per cent during 1991-92 and
2012-13.

3.7 Status of Apple Production in the Major Apple Producing
States of India

Apple is a deciduous fruit mainly grown in the north western

mountainous States like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal

Pradesh. In the north eastern part of India, it is grown in a few hilly states like

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim on a limited scale. Jammu and

Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are the two leading apple producing States in

India known for their unique and popular varieties and are also known as the

Apple State of India. Other States like Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has

of late started producing apple and other deciduous fruits for commercial

purposes. Table 3.6 shows the production of apples in the major apple

producing States.

Table 3.6
State wise Area, Production and Productivity of Apples in India
(Area in ‘000 HA, Production in ‘000MT and Productivity in MT/HA)

STATE 2005-06 2012-13

Area Production Yield Area Production Yield

JAMMU AND KASHMIR 100.1 1151.7 11.5 157.28 1348.2 8.6

HIMACHAL PRADESH 88.6 540.4 6.1 106.23 412.4 3.9
123.2 3.7
UTTARAKHAND 28.8 112.3 3.9 33.76 31.0 2.2
3.0
ARUNACHAL PRADESH 9.1 9.6 1.1 14.07 0.6 6.1
1915.4
OTHER STATES 0.04 0.02 0.38 0.2

TOTAL 226.6 1814.0 8.0 311.5

Source: National Horticulture Database, 2008 and 2013

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Source: Indian Horticulture Database 2008, 2011 and 2013

Table 3.6 shows that Jammu and Kashmir is the leading producer of
apple in the country contributing about 70.40 percent of the total apple
production in India. Himachal Pradesh is the second largest producer of apple in
India contributing 21.53 percent of the total apple produced in India in 2012-13.
However, there was a drastic reduction of apple production in Himachal
Pradesh as compared to 2005-06. As a result, the productivity of apples in the
State also declined from 6.1 metric tonnes per hectare in 2005-06 to 3.9 metric
tonnes per hectare in 2012-13. The State of Uttarakhand which ranks third in
the production of apples in the India produced 123.2 thousand metric tonnes of
apple from an area of 33.76 thousand hectares having a productivity of 3.7
metric tonnes per hectare in 2012-13 and the production constituted 6.4 percent
of the total apples produced in India. Arunachal Pradesh produced 9.6 thousand
metric tonnes of apple from an area of 9.1 thousand hectares in 2005-06 which
increased to 31.0 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 14.07 thousand
hectares in 2012-13 which was 1.6 percent of the total apple produced in India.
The productivity of apples in the State also increased from 1.1 metric tonnes per
hectare in 2005-06 to 2.2 metric tonnes per hectare in 2012-13.

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3.8 Status of Horticulture Sector 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.

Horticultural development is expected to replace Jhum cultivation and maintain

the sustainable development of the State. The mountainous topography and the

agro climatic condition of the state offers immense scope for growing a variety

of horticultural crops that needs to be explored. Horticulture is now a growing

economic activity of the people of the state. All the 18 districts of the State

located at different elevation levels enjoy different agro climatic condition,

varied soil type and grow a variety of horticultural crops for personal

consumption as well as for commercial purposes. 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. A wide range of tropical, sub

tropical and temperate fruits such as apple, orange, banana, kiwi, plum, jack

fruit etc and vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, potato, tomato, spinach and

other edible leafy vegetables etc and spices like ginger, turmeric, cardamom etc

are grown in the State. Floriculture is also another potential economic activity

of the State which has gained much popularity over the past few years.

Aromatics and medicinal plants, spices like ginger, cardamom, black pepper are

also grown for commercial purposes in the State.

Table 3.7
Production of Horticultural Crops in Arunachal Pradesh, 2012-13
(Area in 000’ Ha and Production in 000’ MT)
Crop Area Production Percentage of the total Horticultural
Crop Production

Fruits 86.86 312.24 59.62

Vegetable 1.52 37.56 7.17

Flowers 0.02 0.01 -

Aromatics 5.15 109.18 20.86

Spices 10.17 64.27 12.22

Total 103.72 523.26 100

Source: Indian Horticulture Data base, 2013

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The State produced 523.26 thousand metric tonnes of horticultural crops
from an area of 103.72 thousand hectares with a productivity of 5.04 metric
tonnes per hectare in the year 2012-13. The production of fruits was highest
among the horticultural crops followed by aromatics, spices and vegetables. The
State produced 312.24 thousand metric tonnes of fruits from an area of 86.86
thousand hectares with a productivity of 3.59 metric tonnes per hectares which
formed 60 percent of the total horticultural crops produced in India. The
production of spices was 64.27 thousand metric tonnes from an area 10.17
thousand hectares in 2012-13. The production of vegetable during the year was
37.56 thousand metric tonnes from an area of 1.52 thousand hectares with
productivity of 24.7 metric tonnes per hectare which was highest among the
horticultural crops produced in the State. The share of fruits in the total
production of horticultural production was highest (59.62 percent) followed by
Aromatics (20.86 percent), Spices (12.22 percent) and vegetables (7.17
percent).

3.9 Production of Fruits in Arunachal Pradesh

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. All the
districts of Arunachal Pradesh are known for its production of different kinds of
fruits and vegetables. Tawang and West Kameng district is famous for its
production of apples, walnut and kiwi. On the other hand, East Kameng, East
Siang, West Siang, Upper Subansiri is famous for oranges. The other districts
like Papumpare, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, Lohit, Changlang, Tirap and
Longding produces pineapples and bananas.

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Table 3.8
Area, Production and Productivity of Fruits Produced in Arunachal
Pradesh, 2012-13
Name of the Fruit Area Production Productivity
( in Hectares) ( in MT) (MT/HA)

Apple 14066 30945 2.19

Walnut 4805 574 0.11

Kiwi 3452 4721 1.367
Citrus 39396 175707 4.46

Pineapple 12280 66780 5.4

Banana 6132 18186 2.9

Others 6727 13288 1.97

Total 86858 310201 3.57

Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

The above table shows the production of various fruits grown in
Arunachal Pradesh in 2012-13. The State produced 310201 metric tonnes of
fruits from an area of 86858 hectares having a productivity of 3.57 metric
tonnes per hectares. The production of citrus fruit was highest in the State. The
State produced 175707 metric tonnes of citrus fruit from an area of 39396
hectares with a productivity of 4.46 metric tonnes per hectares during the year.
The major Citrus fruit growing districts are Upper Siang, Roing, Lohit, East
Kameng, West Siang, East Kameng, and Upper Subansiri. The production of
pineapple ranked second among the fruits produced in the State with a
production of 66780 metric tonnes from an area of 12280 hectares and is grown
in Upper Siang, Roing, Lohit, Papumpare, Upper Subansiri, East Siang and
West Siang districts. Apple is the third largest fruit produced in the State. The
production of apples in the State was 30945 metric tonnes from an area of
14066 hectares with productivity of 2.19 metric tonnes per hectares. West
Kameng, Tawang and Lower Subansiri are major the apple producing districts
of the State. The State also produced 18186 metric tonnes of banana from an
area of 6132 hectares having a productivity of 2.9 metric tonnes per hectare.
Bananas are mostly produced in the districts of Lohit, Upper Siang, Roing,
Tirap, Longding, Papumpare, East Siang and West Siang. Kiwi is another
commercial fruit grown in the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Lower
Subansiri and Dibang Valley. The production of kiwi in the State was 4721
metric tonnes from an area of 3452 hectares having a productivity of 1.4 metric

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tonnes per hectares. The other fruit here includes guava, jack fruit, plum, peach
etc whose productions was 13288 metric tonnes from an area of 6727 hectares
during the year.

Figure 3.7
Percentage Share of the Major Fruits Produced in Arunachal Pradesh,

2012-13

Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, 2014
Thus, the above chart shows that the production of citrus fruit was

highest in the State and its production constituted 56.60 percent of the total fruit
produced in the State followed by pineapple, apple, banana, kiwi and others
whose share constituted 21.50 percent, 9 percent, 5.80 percent, 1.50 percent and
4.20 percent respectively.

3.10 Production of Apples in Arunachal Pradesh

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.
The State produced 31.0 thousand metric tonnes of apples from an area of 14.07

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thousand hectares in 2012-13 with a productivity of 2.2 metric tonnes per
hectare. The production of apple in the State has been steadily increasing every
year as a result of which 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 Table 3.9.

Table 3.9
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

Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Arunachal Pradesh,

: Indian Horticulture Database 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013,
: Statistical Abstract of Arunachal Pradesh from 2000 to 2012.

Table 3.9 reveals that the State witnessed an increasing trend in the area
and production of apple. The production of apples in the State increased from
8.2 thousand metric tonnes in 1999-2000 to 31.87 thousand metric tonnes in
2013-14. The area under apple cultivation also increased from 6.6 thousand
hectares in 1999-2000 to 14.27 thousand hectares in 2013-14. The high growth
in area and production of apples in the State over the past few years is due to the
various horticulture development programmes like National Horticulture
Mission implemented in the State and high returns from these crops.

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3.11 Conclusion

Arunachal Pradesh lags far behind in apple production because of
largely historical and geographical reasons. 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. It is concentrated in a few districts
like West Kameng, Tawang, and Lower Subansiri. In view of the fact that West
Kameng district is the largest producer of apples in Arunachal Pradesh, an
attempt was made to study the various issues of economics of apple cultivation
in the district. However, the productivity of apples in the State remained low
and increased marginally from 1.2 MT/HA in 1999-2000 to 2.2 MT/HA in
2013-14. An attempt was made to study in depth the opportunities and
challenges of production of apples as a case study of Arunachal Pradesh.

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