News

Apples ‘souring’ due to climate change

04.03.2013

Sweet apples grown in the Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh are gradually losing their taste as a result of climate change, according to reports.

Farmers of the remote Mechuka valley in West Siang district are complaining that 15-20 years ago the apples they produced were sweet, but now the fruits taste sour.

Horticulturalists and climate change experts are blaming erratic weather and changes in temperature, snowfall and rainfall for the souring of the fruit.

For optimum growth and fruiting, apple trees need 100-125 cm of annual rainfall, evenly distributed during the growing season, but the region has seen an unprecedented increase in rainfall intensity in recent years.

"Kashmiri apples are sweet because the rainfall is low,” says Nazeer Ahmad, director of Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (CITH) in Srinagar. “But in Arunachal, sometimes it rains very heavily which dilutes the sugar content of the crop affecting its taste.”