Rajasthan’s woman farmer grows organic apples at 50 degrees Celsius; gets Rs 38 lakh turnover from just 1.25 acres

In 2015, when Santosh Devi Khedar planted 100 apple saplings on a part of her 1.25-acre farm in Beri village, Sikar, Rajasthan, she took a big risk. Apples grow the best in cool climates, with Jammu and Kashmir known as the Apple King of India. In contrast, the maximum temperature during the summer months of April to June can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius in Sikar.

“Apples are not native to Rajasthan but those grown here are a special variety that thrives in high temperatures. It is the HRMNN 99 variety. It was developed by a farmer in Himachal Pradesh and supported by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), Ahmedabad,” she tells 30Stades.

Santosh was confident about planting apples in Sikar based on her previous experience with organic farming, where she learned from her failures to arrive at the best agriculture practices. 

“When the soil is nurtured organically, and chemicals are not used, it can grow anything in abundance,” she says.

When Santosh began farming in 2008, she worked alone on her farm after her husband left for work and the children went to school. She cleared weeds and made organic manure. Her husband and children would help her after returning. “It was back-breaking work for 12-14 hours daily but I never gave up,” she recalls.

With that habit of working hard, she was ready to take the apple cultivation challenge. Though she had been told that the apple trees would start fruiting from the fourth year, she got the first fruits in the second year itself. “In the second year, we harvested 30 to 34 apples per plant, followed by an average of 132 in the third year and 368 apples in the fourth year,” she says.

Today, each tree yields 70 kg to 80 kg of apples annually. This is much higher than the average of 50kg per tree in well-maintained apple orchards of Kashmir.

“We get rates between Rs150 to Rs200 per kg (Rs16,000 per tree at the upper end). Buyers come to our Shekhawati Krishi Farm and Nursery to purchase the organic apples,” says Santosh.

Also Read: Why is Kashmir's 800-year-old apple economy in shambles?

The flowering starts in February and the fruit is ready for harvest by June-end. “The taste of these apples is sweeter than other varieties,” she says.

Santosh also has 220 plants of pomegranates, and each yields about 60 kg of fruits annually. She also grows organic mosambi (sweet lime), kinnow (keenu), lemon (50 trees), and chickoo.

“All our fruits sell above market rates because of their taste and organic production. Our pomegranates sell at around Rs200 per kg,” she points out.

While Santosh cultivates fruits over 1 acre, the plant nursery is spread over 0.25 acres. The nursery is the biggest source of revenue at around Rs 25 lakh annually. The rest comes from the sale of fruits.

Her husband Ramkaran Khedar, son Rahul, and daughter-in-law also work on the farm. “Our labour costs are around Rs 4 lakh annually. We all work together to prepare organic sprays and bio-fertilisers, which keeps costs under check,” she says.

The secret behind apples in Rajasthan

Santosh is a strong proponent of organic farming. She has also won many awards for being a progressive farmer.

For all the plants, including apples, she uses solid and liquid organic fertilisers made at her own Shekhawati Farm.

Before planting saplings, and then every six months, the family uses dry organic manure made with neem, aged cow dung and local desert plant akda (Sodom apple). “This manure is applied in January and July every year,” Santosh says.

Liquid organic manure made using cow urine, leaves of neem, datura and other plants is diluted with water and sprayed every 15 days on the plants. Jeevamrit, panchagavya and other inputs are also used regularly for healthy growth.

Once the apple plant reaches 7 to 8 feet, they are trimmed. Light pruning is done regularly and deep pruning is done in December-January when the trees are dormant.

Santosh has installed a tube well and uses drip irrigation. Drip takes water directly to the roots, avoiding wastage and reducing operating costs.

Also Read: Building contractor turns agri-entrepreneur, earns Rs2 lakh per month from 9,000 sq ft organic nursery

The nursery business

The family sells saplings of all the fruits they grow. They include Kesar mango, chickoo, mosambi, apple, guava, pomegranates, and lemon. 

Annually, they sell about 60,000 plants with prices starting from Rs 100 for apples, and Rs 60 each for pomegranates and lemons. They have expanded the nursery now to accommodate one lakh plants. 

“Older plants of apple cost Rs200,” says Santosh’s son Rahul, who has graduated in agriculture. 

“The maximum demand is for apple and pomegranate saplings. We can prepare about 40,000 saplings each of apples and pomegranates annually,” he adds.

Santosh says they use the grafting method to make saplings. Apple grafting involves combining a scion, or young shoot, from a desired apple variety (here HARMNN 99) with a rootstock that provides the tree's root system. “We procure the rootstock seedlings from Jammu. We transplant a single bud from our apple plant onto the rootstock in December-January. By February, the saplings are ready for plantation,” explains Santosh’s husband Ramkaran.

About 10,000 rootstocks cost Rs 3 lakh (Rs30 per plant), he adds. Pomegranate plants are also prepared using grafting. “Once ready, we put them in polythene for transportation across India. 

Apart from Rajasthan, buyers from Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and other states are regular buyers from the nursery.

Khedar, her husband and Rahul also impart training to farmers on their Shekhawati Farm. “Around 15-20 farmers come daily and we provide them a two-hour training session on making manure, planting the saplings and other farming techniques,” Santosh says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial, and socio-economic reporting)

Also Read: Karnataka’s professor-turned-farmer earns Rs6 lakh per acre through organic farming of dates

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