A farmer from Himachal Pradesh has developed an innovative self-pollinating apple variety “HRMN-99” that does not require long chilling hours for flowering and fruit setting.
- This has spread to plain, tropical, and subtropical areas in various parts of India, where the temperature is as high as 40-45 ºC during summer.
- Commercial cultivation of this apple variety has been initiated in Manipur, Jammu, low lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and fruit setting has been expanded to 23 states & UTs so far.
- Shri Hariman Sharma, a progressive farmer, hailing from Paniala village of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, who developed this innovative apple variety – HRMN 99 has become a source of inspiration not only for thousands of farmers in the region but also for horticulturists of Bilaspur and other lower hill districts in the State –areas which earlier could never dream of growing apples.
