Crop guide

Apple

1. Land Preparation Pits 3 x 3 x 3 ft on a sloped, well-drained site. Apple needs a proper winter chill, so it succeeds in upland Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Swat and AJK but not in the plains. 2.

Rabi Sowing Jan–Feb Harvest Jun–Jul 200–300 maund per acre

Land Preparation

Pits 3 x 3 x 3 ft on a sloped, well-drained site. Apple needs a proper winter chill, so it succeeds in upland Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Swat and AJK but not in the plains.

Sowing Time & Method

Plant dormant grafted trees in January–February before bud break. Spacing 15 x 15 ft for standard, closer on dwarfing rootstock. Plant at least two compatible varieties for cross-pollination — a single variety block sets very little fruit.

Seed Rate & Treatment

Certified grafted trees on a rootstock suited to your soil depth.

Fertilizer

Per bearing tree per year: 30–40 kg farmyard manure, 1–2 kg urea, 1 kg DAP, 1 kg SOP. Apply farmyard manure and phosphorus in winter, nitrogen in early spring.

Irrigation

Every 10–15 days through the growing season. Water stress in June and July gives small fruit that never sizes up afterwards.

Weed Control

Weed Damage Control Product
Bermuda Grass (Khabbal) Mats the basin and takes the spring moisture and the fertiliser ring just as the tree is breaking bud and setting fruit. Hoe the basin and lift the runners out; keep the ring round the trunk clear right out to the drip line
Field Bindweed (Lehli) Twines up young saplings and their stakes, bending them over and shading the new growth. Pull the vines off the sapling by hand and hoe the basin again and again
Canada Thistle (Kandiari) Its creeping roots spread right across the basin and keep taking water from the tree all season, not just in one flush. Cut the tops down in the basin and the inter-row, and again every time they come back — do not plough and do not dig, both cut the creeping root into more plants
Bathu (Lambsquarters) Fills the basin in spring just as the tree is pushing new growth, and eats the fertiliser given with it. Hoe the basin while it is still small, before it seeds
Camel Thorn (Jawansa) In the dry Pishin and Kalat orchards its deep root takes the stored moisture the young trees live on between waterings. Cut the top growth off at ground level every time it comes back, until the deep root is worn out — one digging will not clear it, the root left deep down only grows again; keep the basin mulched

Keep a clean basin; grow a cover crop between rows on slopes to hold the soil.

Insect Pests

Codling moth is the main pest — the larva tunnels to the core and the damage is only found when the fruit is cut. Use pheromone traps to time control. San Jose scale and woolly aphid on the bark; a dormant oil spray in winter handles both.

Diseases

Apple scab in a wet spring — olive-brown blotches on leaves and corky spots on fruit. Powdery mildew on new shoots. Prune for open canopy and spray protectively before the wet spell, not after.

Harvesting

Pick when the ground colour turns from green to yellow and the seeds inside are brown. Lift and twist rather than pulling, keeping the stalk on the fruit.