• Apple is a climacteric fruit
• It is a long-day plant.
• Apple has gametophytic self-incompatibility.
• Aroma due to ripe fruit – ethyl-2-methyl/butyrate
• Green – hexanal.
• Malic acid present in apple.
• Jammu and Kashmir has the largest area and production.
• China is the largest producer in the world. (India ranks 11th)
• Apple has the habit of alternate bearing.
• Apple is entomophilous (insect pollination).
• Apple bears fruit on the growth of the old season.
• Colour of flower – white to pink.
• Apple production accounts for 55% of the country’s total area and 75% of its total temperate fruit production.
• Himachal Pradesh is called the “Apple Bowl of India”.
• Almost all varieties require chilling for 1000 hours at temperatures below 7.20°C.
• 11 to 33% pollinating trees are recommended for regular crops in India.
• Early fruit drop – due to lack of pollination and competition.
• Fruit drops in June – due to lack of moisture and environmental conditions.
• Fruit drops before harvesting – due to the development of the abscission layer and the formation of ethylene.
• The San Jose scale was introduced to India from France in 1906.
• Thomas Andrew Knight produced the first apple variety
• Fermented wine prepared from apples is known as Cider.
• Pruning is essential to maintain a balance between vegetative growth and spur growth in apples.
• Delicious group of variety are self-incompatible and cross pollinated.
• English varieties are self-pollinated and act as suitable pollinizer for delicious group.
• Red Gold – act as pollinizer for red delicious and starking delicious.

Clonal Rootstocks

• M – 27 – Ultra dwarf (M-13 x M-9)
• M – 9 – Dwarf, suitable for HDP
• M – 4, M – 7 and MM – 106 – semi dwarf, suitable HDP Resistant to woolly Apple Aphid.
• MM – 111 – Semi vigorous, Resistant to woolly Apple Aphid and drought.
• Merton – 793 – vigorous, woolly Apple Aphid resistant.
• M – 104 – Most winter hardy rootstock

Crab apple – Malus baccata (Most commonly used seedling rootstock in India)

EMCA series of rootstock resistant to virus.

Varieties

Early

• Michal
• Benoni
• Mollies Delicious
• Shlomit
• Maayan
• Anna
• Chaubattia Anupam
• Tydeman’s Early Worcester
• Trish Peach
• Fenny
• Early Shanburry

Mid

• Royal Delicious
• Rich-e-Red
• Starkrimson
• Well Spur
• Orage Spur
• Red Spur
• Silver Spur
• Golder Spur
• CITH Lodh Apple-1
• Gala
• Granny Smith
• Gala Must
• Bright N Early
• Cooper -4
• Vance Delicious
• Skyline Supreme
• Red delicious
• Rome Beauty
• Razakwar
• Richard
• Top Red
• Red Chief
• Red Gold
• Lord Lambourne
• Mc Intosh
• Cortland
• Golden Delicious
• American Mother & Jonathan

Late

• Firdous
• Top Red
• Sunhari
• Fuji
• Red Gold
• Golden Delicious
• Lal Ambri
• Ambri: An Indigenous variety grown in Kashmir, which has the longest storage life.
• Winter Banana
• Granny Smith
• Rymer
• Buckingham
• Yellow Newton – Internal Browning

Green English varieties

• Black Bendavis
• Pippins
• Baldwin
• COXs Orange Pippin

Spur type

• White Spur
• Red Chief
• Stark Crimson

Standard colour mutant

• Sky line supreme
• Top Red
• Hardiman

Scab resistant varieties

• Firdous
• Shireen
• Florina
• Red free
• Nova mac
• Liberty – resistance to all fungal diseases
• Prima
• Priscilla
• Sir prizo
• Freedom

Low-Chilling

• Anna
• Tamma
• Tropical Beauty
• Parlin’s Beauty
• Michel
• Schlomit
• Vared
• Neomi

Crab apple varieties – Red Flush, Crimson gold, Yellow drops, Nodriff

Hybrid

1. Lal Ambri – Red delicious x Ambri – HP
2. Amb Red – Red delicious x Ambri – HP
3. Amb starking – starking delicious x Ambri – HP
4. Ambroyal – Royal delicious x Ambri – HP
5. Ambrich – Rich a Red x Ambri – J& K
6. Sunheri – Ambri x Golden delicious – J& K
7. Chaubattia Anupam – Red delicious x Early Shanburry.
8. Chaubattia Princess – Red delicious x Early Shanburry.

Triploid

• Baldwin
• Winesap
• Gravenstin

Climate

• Apple requires temperate climate.
• Apple varieties require more chilling for normal growth.
• Annual rainfall 100-125 mm.
• The optimum temperature for fruiting should be between 21.1°C and 26.7°C.
• Average Summer temperature should be around 21-24 °C during active growth period.
• Apple does not grow in tropical areas as it is cryophilous.
• Strong winds are harmful.

Soil

• Well-drained and fertile deep soil.
• pH 5.8 to 6.2, free from hard pan.

Propagation

• Apple is propagated mainly by budding and grafting.
• Budding (preferably shield budding) is done in the month of June.
• Apple plants are prepared by tongue grafting.
• Commercial rootstocks are propagated by

Planting

• Pits of size 1x1x1 m are dug.
• Planting is done in early spring to avoid damage due to low temperatures.
• A distance of 5 to 8 m in both directions is sufficient.

Manure and Fertilizers

• NPK 700:350:700 g/tree, respectively
• FYM 100 kg/tree
• FYM is applied during December-January along with the full quantity of Phosphorus and Potassium. Nitrogen is applied in two splits, first in December-January. The remaining half dose of Nitrogen is applied after harvesting.
• When symptoms appear, micronutrients (Zinc – 0.5, Boron 0.1 and Manganese 0.4%) can be applied in two sprays at 15-day intervals during May to July.

Interculture and Inter-cropping

• Shallow hoeing will help keep the weeds down.
• Sod culture is useful for apple production.
• Crops like legume vegetables, melons, strawberries can be taken as inter-crops.

Irrigation

• The first irrigation is done immediately after planting.
• The most critical period for water requirement is April to August.
• Drip irrigation has proved to be very effective with regard to the growth and fruit production of apple plants.

Training and Pruning

• A modified leader system is used to provide a strong structure to the plant.
• Pruning is done in summer or when the tree is dormant.
• Pruning an apple tree improves its shape, growth, fruit production and repairs damaged branches.
• Older fruit trees are pruned only for only dead, broken, crossing or competing limbs.

Pollination and fruit setting

• Diploid varieties are self-fruitful; they have abundant, good pollen.
• Triploid varieties are self-unfruitful and have high female sterility. Additionally, the floral structure of these varieties does not facilitate pollination by bees, and the duration of stigma receptivity is shorter compared to the varieties in the self-fruitful group.
• Crab apple is very effective for the pollination of apple varieties.

Fruit thinning

• Typically, an apple tree produces too much fruit.
• Leaving one or two fruits in each cluster, the rest are removed so that they can develop to full size, colour and flavour.
• NAAM (Naphthaleneacetamide) is used along with carbaryl for thinning apples.
• When carbaryl is used with NAAM, the thinning effect is increased, but the risk of russeting of the fruit may also increase.

Harvesting

• Apple fruits are harvested at the mature stage. For distant markets, fruits are harvested before they are fully ripe.
• A change in colour of the fruits from green to yellowish-green indicates that the fruits are ready for harvesting.
• However, green variety fruits are identified by taste.

Yield

30 to 50 kg of fruits/tree.

Indian apple grading system

India’s National Horticulture Board outlines a 6-grade size system for apples, used in regions such as Himachal Pradesh.

1. Extra Large: >85 mm diameter
2. Large: 75–80 mm diameter
3. Medium: 70–75 mm diameter
4. Small: 65–70 mm diameter
5. Ex Small: 60–65 mm diameter
6. Pitthoo: 50–60 mm diameter

Pests

Woolly Aphids (Eriosoma lanigerum)

• A serious pest of apple, aphids are active from March to December.
• They damage the roots as well as the upper parts.
• Affected trees lose their vitality.

Control

• Spray 0.03% dimethoate or phosphamidone.
• Use aphid-resistant rootstock.
• Biological control by spraying Aphelinus mali.

San Josh Scale (Aspidiotus Perniciosus)

• It is usually spread through nursery stock, cuttings or grafts. Crows, mynahs and bulbul birds also spread it.

Control

• Fumigate nursery stock before planting.
• Spray 3% miscible oil on dormant trees in winter.
• Spray methyl demeton 0.5%.

Diseases

Stem black disease (Coniothecium chomatosporum)

The affected parts turn dark black. The fungus enters through wounds caused by pruning.

Control

• Remove and destroy the affected plant parts.
• Apply Bordeaux paste on the cut ends immediately after pruning.
• Spray 0.2% Dithane M-45.

Pink rot (Pellicularia salmonicolour)

• Light brown lesions appear on stems and twigs. The affected bark sometimes breaks up into small protrusions of white or yellow fungal structures.

Control

• Remove all affected branches and spurs in summer.

Powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha)

• Most parts of the plant are covered with a grayish-white powdery mass.

Control

• Spray with Bordeaux mixture.

Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis)

• Affected leaves dry up or drop prematurely, resulting in reduced vigour and may reduce yield.

Control

• Collect all affected plant parts.
• Spray with Bordeaux mixture (4-4-50) regularly.
• Spray Dithane M-45 @ 0.5% at least 3 times.

Physiological Disorders

Bitter Pit

• Development of brown spots or streaks in the pulp, especially under the peel.
• Large fruits and immature fruits are more susceptible than other fruits.

Causes

• Excessive doses of nitrogenous fertilizers, excessive shade and excessive pruning/ calcium deficiency.

Control

• Storage at 32–34°F (0–1.1°C) temperature and high humidity (85-95%).