Changing Climatic Patterns and its Impact on Apple Production and Productivity in Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Himachal Pradesh (H.P) is next only to Jammu and Kashmir in the production of apple in India. Horticulture in general and apple in particular has emerged as the backbone of Himachal Economy. Apple, being a temperate fruit is grown in the high altitude regions and in Himachal Pradesh almost all the districts, except Una, apple production takes place in various magnitudes. As Hills are early indicators of climate change, any significant change in climatic pattern would definitely have cascading effect on the hill economies like Himachal Pradesh. Since, a considerable part of Gross state domestic product (GSDP) and employment comes from that subsec­tor of the hill economy, it is important to study how it is affected by changing climatic patterns. This paper is an attempt to quantify the impact of changing climatic patterns on the production and productivity of apple in H.P using the empirical methods.