When you think of apple orchards, Maharashtra is probably not the first place that comes to mind. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand have long dominated India’s apple-growing landscape. Yet in Wakadi village near Shirdi, Maharashtra, engineer-turned-farmer Vikrant Kale has been growing apples despite summer temperatures touching 44°C. According to The Better India, Kale left his corporate career and returned to farming, eventually cultivating apples on about two acres and producing up to 16,000 kg annually. The report also says his produce has found markets across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. But there is an important detail behind this seemingly impossible experiment: Kale is not growing the traditional high-chill apple varieties associated with the Himalayan region.
Why apples can grow in maharashtra
Apple trees traditionally need a period of winter chill during dormancy before they can flower and fruit properly. That is one reason conventional apple cultivation is concentrated in colder regions. However, scientists and farmers have developed and tested low-chill varieties that require substantially less cold.
According to research published on ResearchGate, low-chilling apple varieties such as HRMN-99, Anna and Dorsett Golden have demonstrated promising adaptability under warmer and subtropical conditions. Studies have reported satisfactory flowering, fruiting and reproductive performance of these cultivars, highlighting their potential for expanding apple cultivation into non-traditional, warmer regions. This means the idea of an apple orchard in Maharashtra is unusual, but it is not scientifically impossible.
The engineer who chose farming over the corporate world
Kale’s journey began away from agriculture. After studying information technology engineering, he entered the corporate and sports-management world, including work associated with the BCCI and the Indian Super League, according to The Better India. In 2017, he left his desk job and returned to his family’s agricultural roots. Instead of limiting himself to crops traditionally associated with the region, he began experimenting with fruits that could command a premium in the market.Apples became one of his most ambitious experiments. The challenge was not simply planting saplings and waiting for fruit. Growing a crop that evolved around colder climates in a hot region meant selecting suitable varieties and adapting cultivation practices to local conditions.Kale reportedly planted 400 Israeli ‘Ana’ apple saplings, a variety known internationally for its low chilling requirement. Scientific literature also identifies ‘Ana’ as one of the lowest-chill apple cultivars, with a reported requirement of about 218 chill hours under one commonly used measurement.
From an experiment to a working farm
The results eventually turned the experiment into a commercial crop. The Better India reports that Kale now cultivates apples across two acres and can harvest as much as 16,000 kg annually. It also reports earnings of roughly Rs 4–5 lakh per acre from apple cultivation alone. These figures are reported farm-level claims, rather than independently audited income data, and should therefore be viewed in that context.
His farm has also gone beyond apples. Reports about Kale describe experiments with crops such as white jamun and other exotic fruits, along with intercropping traditional crops such as soybean and onion. Interestingly, local media had already reported on Kale’s successful apple experiment before the more recent coverage, noting that he had become one of the farmers in the region experimenting with apple cultivation in Ahmednagar district.
What this really proves
Kale’s story does not mean that any apple variety can simply be planted in Maharashtra’s 44°C summer and expected to survive. What it demonstrates is more specific and arguably more interesting.With low-chill varieties, suitable planting material and careful orchard management, apple cultivation can be attempted successfully in parts of warmer India. For Kale, the experiment has turned an unlikely idea into a livelihood. For Maharashtra’s farmers, it offers another possibility: that climate and geography may set limits on agriculture, but the right variety and the willingness to experiment can sometimes move those limits.
