The farmer who grew apples where apples should not grow

Ask most people where apples grow in India and they will name Kashmir or the higher hills of Himachal Pradesh. The reason is simple: apple trees usually need a long, cold winter, a certain number of chill hours, before they will flower and fruit.

Hariman Sharma, a farmer from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, set out to change that. He developed HRMN-99, a low-chill apple variety that can grow in much warmer conditions than the traditional varieties.

What makes his story stand out is what happened next. The Department of Science and Technology documents how HRMN-99 was tested and then spread to farms in many states, including the Northeast. One farmer’s experiment became an option for growers far from the cold hills.

Hariman Sharma has been honoured with the Padma Shri. His story is a reminder that some of India’s most useful science starts in a farmer’s own field.