Dubbed as the “apple hub” of Shopian district, Pinjoora village, located almost 3-4 kilometers from the district head-quarter, has of late gained a distinct distinction- thanks to its progressive farmers. The picturesque village, apart from its bumper apple crop, has also become popular for introducing new-age agricultural concepts.
One of the sons of its soil, orchardist Shahnawaz Ahmad Khan, a grower who has spearheaded remarkable agricultural transformation, has put forth a good practice which others can follow, he says.
Khan’s glorious lineage related to the fruit industry, coupled with his personal zest of adapting to modern-day horticul-tural interventions have helped him come a long way.
In a village which has seen fortunes change owing to the bumper apple crop season over season, Khan took the initia-tive of converting his traditional apple orchards into high-yielding super varieties through top grafting techniques.
Khan, a seasoned apple grower with two decades of experience, has successfully revamped approximately 15 kanals of his orchards, introducing a diverse range of super apple varieties, including Super Cheap, Scarlet Super 2, Red Deli-cious, Red Gala, Adam Non Super, Z 1 and more. His pioneering model of farming is not only cost-effective but has become a beacon of hope for fellow traditional apple orchard owners looking to upgrade. Explaining advantages of his innovative farming approach, Khan highlighted significant cost reductions. “Converting a 20-year-old traditional apple tree into a super variety now costs a mere 250 rupees,” he said.
This affordability factor makes Khan’s model particularly appealing to farmers facing economic constraints, providing them a pathway to transition into higher-yield super varieties. For those more economically sound, Khan recommends the use of M9 rootstock in conjunction with the Gala variety, a combination that has shown promising results in the market.
Khan’s journey into apple farming began over two decades ago, and he currently manages an apple nursery in addition to owning a state-of-the-art grading line.
His inspiration to undertake this transformational journey came from a renowned apple orchardist of Himachal Pra-desh, Ram Lal Chauhan.
“It was in 2015 when I discovered that Ram Lal Chauhan had successfully converted his traditional apple orchard into super varieties through top grafting,” Khan reminisced.
Upon returning from HP, Khan replicated this method on 6 kanals of his land, and the grafted varieties started bearing fruit within three years, resulting in substantial profits.
Unwilling to rest on his laurels, Khan continued his experimentation. In 2021, he expanded his high and medium-density varieties, converting an additional 9 kanals of land. His remarkable contributions to agriculture earned him recognition and appreciation from high-ranking officials of the Horticulture Department in Kashmir, including a certifi-cation of appreciation from the Director of Horticulture, Kashmir, and the Lieutenant Governor’s office. Perhaps the most striking testament to Khan’s success is his conversion of a 60-year-old apple tree into a super variety, now yield-ing around 30 boxes of apples. His pioneering efforts have not gone unnoticed, with many farmers in Shopian and neighbouring regions eagerly adopting his innovative farming model.
