Himachal apple production 2026: 1.37 crore boxes, 39% of last year's crop

Himachal Pradesh's apple crop for 2026 is running at well under half of last year's, according to the latest market-arrival figures reported in early November. By Tuesday, 3 November 2026, 1,37,44,706 boxes of A-grade apples had reached markets in the state and in other states, against a total of 3.49 crore boxes produced last year, according to horticulture department figures. The state's horticulture minister, Jagat Singh Negi, has blamed adverse weather during the crop's critical stages: untimely rain, cold weather during flowering and too few winter chilling hours. Estimates for the full season now range from below 1.5 crore boxes to about 1.7 crore boxes, depending on the source.

Apples are the backbone of the rural economy in Himachal Pradesh's hill districts, and the crop has been described in reports as a Rs 5,000 crore business for the state. When the harvest halves, the loss is spread across orchard owners, pickers and packers, truckers, commission agents at the fruit mandis and the box-making and cold-storage trades. One report estimates the horticulture sector's loss this year at up to Rs 2,000 crore.

The reason given is the weather, not the market. Apples need a long spell of winter cold, measured in chilling hours, to flower well, and then mild, dry conditions while they set fruit. This year the state saw too little winter cold, followed by untimely rain, sudden cold and hailstorms during flowering, according to the minister and growers' groups. Most orchards in the state are rain-fed and have no irrigation, so growers have little defence against such a season.

The Market Intervention Scheme is the state's safety net for the lowest grade of fruit, the culled apples sold for juice and processing. Buying under the scheme has been far below last year's level, according to reports, because there is simply less fruit. That also matters to processing units, which rely on these apples for juice concentrate.

Peepals calculation: The 1,37,44,706 boxes that reached markets by 3 November are about 39% of last year's 3.49 crore boxes (1.374 / 3.49 = 0.39). Even the highest full-season estimate, 1.7 crore boxes, would be about 49% of last year's crop (1.70 / 3.49 = 0.49), a fall of about 51%. Between 9 October and 3 November, arrivals rose by 14,09,967 boxes (1,37,44,706 - 1,23,34,739), or about 56,400 boxes a day over those 25 days. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Orchard incomes fall sharply this year even where prices per box have held up, because there are far fewer boxes to sell. Labour, transport and packing businesses that are paid by volume earn less over the season.

Long-term: Growers' groups have warned that early snowfall and El Nino could hurt next year's crop as well. A second weak year would put more pressure on the case for irrigation, hail nets and other protection, and on the state's support schemes.

Who is affected: Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, their workers, fruit traders and commission agents, transporters, packaging and cold-storage firms, juice processors that buy culled apples, and buyers across north India.

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