Srinagar, Apr 11: Farmers are increasingly resorting to hand pollination techniques to ensure better fruit setting this season.
This follows a sharp decline in natural pollinizers in apple orchards,
This shift comes as traditional pollinizer varieties such as Maharaja, Hazratbal, and Kisri — once common in orchards — are disappearing due to poor commercial returns.
Farmers across the valley are now innovating to counter the challenge. One widely adopted method involves cutting blooming twigs from the remaining natural pollinizer trees and placing them in other apple trees to aid pollination. According to many orchardists, this has significantly improved fruit setting and crop quality in recent seasons.
“This practice is now common in almost every apple-growing region of the valley. Farmers across the valley have adopted new varieties that are not good pollinizers. As a result, our traditional varieties diminished. This twig method has saved our crops and has been proved successful,” said Mohammad Imran Bhat, a grower.
Experts say the decline in pollinizer trees is linked to market pressures, as these varieties typically yield less valuable produce. As a result, many farmers replaced them with high-demand commercial varieties, unknowingly disrupting the delicate pollination process necessary for apple production.
In yet another positive turn, the need for reliable pollination is prompting a quiet revival of traditional varieties. Farmers are beginning to graft newer commercial varieties with older pollinizers like Maharaja and Hazratbal to ensure long-term sustainability and consistent yields.
“This blending of the old and the new technique is essential for preserving the region’s apple economy. Farmers are realizing the importance of traditional varieties not just for heritage, but for practical outcomes like fruit setting,” said Sayed Ahmad Khan, another grower.
Experts said the both these techniques can be used as a damage control measure but suggested the preference to the natural pollinizers as well.
“We have some good natural pollinizers in the new varieties also. Growers should prefer to have a few trees in every orchard that are good pollinizers so that fruit setting is improved. It is noteworthy that growers face huge losses due to the poor fruit setting every year in Kashmir,” said Irshad Ahmad, a botanist.