An Appraisal of Management Skills of Apple Growers and Apple Productivity at Varied Elevations in Himachal Pradesh

Apples are an important crop for the Himachal Pradesh state as the India’s second largest producer of fresh apples and processed apple products he present study was undertaken in an Indian Himalayan state, Himachal Pradesh, with the major aim of studying the managerial skills of the farmers and the impact of the altitudes on the apple productivities Through questionnaire survey, the farmers responses were recorded at low hills (≤2500 m), mid-hills (2500-3000 m) and upper hills (≥3000 m) amsl as a whole. At overall level, in the study area the average value of MSI was 99.58. It was further concluded that there is no major disparity between the productivities of different altitudinal zones except between E₁ zone and other elevation zones. The mean productivity varied merely from 15.54 to 17.38 MT/ha between E₂–E₅ elevations. Statistically they were at par with each other. The computed value of critical difference was 1.94. The study area apple productivity matches with the world apple productivity. However, the productivity in the study area was found far less from the productivities attained by the many developed nations such as France. Italy, Brazil, Chile etc. Therefore, this study may be helpful for the researchers in up taking appropriate processes to fill the gaps in the managerial skills of the farmers and apple orchard productivity.