Commercial cultivation of this apple variety has been initiated in Manipur, Jammu, low lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and fruit setting has been expanded to 23 states & UTs so far.

Shri Hariman Sharma, a progressive farmer, hailing from Paniala village of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, who developed this innovative apple variety – HRMN 99 has become a source of inspiration not only for thousands of farmers in the region but also for horticulturists of Bilaspur and other lower hill districts in the State –areas which earlier could never dream of growing apples. Orphaned during childhood, Hariman was adopted and raised by his Uncle. He studied till class X and thereafter committed himself to farming which is his main source of income. His interest in horticulture egged him on to grow different fruits like apple, mango, pomegranate, kiwi, plum, apricot, peach, and even coffee. The most interesting part of his farming practice is that he can grow apples along with mango in the same field. He strongly believes that farmers can start raising apple orchards in the lower valleys of Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere too.

In 1998, Hariman Sharma had purchased some apples for consumption from Ghumarwin village, Bilaspur, and had discarded the seeds in his backyard. In 1999, he observed an apple seedling in his backyard, developed from the seeds disposed of by him in the previous year. Being an innovative farmer with a keen interest in horticulture, he could sense that an apple plant growing at a warm place like Paniyala, situated 1,800 feet from sea level, was extraordinary. After a year, the plant started blooming, and he observed fruits in 2001. He preserved the plant as “mother plant” and started experimenting by grafting the scion (young shoot)and by 2005 created a mini orchard of apple trees which continue to bear fruits till today.

From 2007 to 2012, Hariman went around convincing others that growing apple in low chilling conditions is no longer impossible. However, not much interest was evinced in the research and dissemination of the variety. Eventually, the innovative variety was scouted by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. NIF verified the claims of the innovator and evaluated the distinctiveness and potentiality of the variety by facilitating molecular & diversity analysis studies and fruit quality testing.

NIF also provided financial and technical support for establishing and expanding the nursery, besides aiding the registration of the variety under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001. During 2014-2019, the Multi-location trials of the variety in low chilling areas across the country were conducted by NIF by transplanting over 20,000 saplings at over 2,000 farmers’ fields and 25 organizations in 30 states, including Rashtrapati Bhawan. Fruit setting has been reported from 23 states, and UT’s so far. These are Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Pondicherry, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

During further analysis and research, it was observed that HRMN-99 plants having 3-8 years of age produced 5 to 75 kg fruits per plant per year in four districts of lower Himachal Pradesh, Sirsa (Haryana) and Manipur. It is bigger in size as compared to other varieties, with very soft, sweet, and juicy pulp and striped red over yellow skin colour during maturity.

Commercial cultivation of this variety was initiated at twenty-six farmers’ fields at eight different locations of Bishnupur, Senapati, Kakching districts of Manipur in the year 2015 by NIF along with other Institutions wherein farmers were provided the requisite training on best practices for successful apple cultivation. A farmer from Manipur has received recognition at various platforms for his outstanding work on adoption of HRMN-99apple cultivation. Capitalizing upon the ongoing success in Manipur, 200 more farmers commercially adopted the variety, and more than 20,000 plants of HRMN 99apple variety are being grown in the state. Commercial adoption of this variety has also been initiated in Jammu, low-lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) under North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of DoNER, Govt of India, and NIF had entered into a MoU in November 2020. In the first phase, 15000 graftings of the variety have been transplanted in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam Manipur, and Meghalaya during January 2021.

Shri Hariman Sharma has also been conferred a National Award in 2017 during the 9^th National Biennial Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge awards by then Hon’ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At the centre of this change is a Multi-feed millet De-huller that has simplified the lengthy and laborious traditional process of removing the husk from millets, raised the productivity, and delivered value-added millet flour at the village or cluster-of-villages level, from which further value-added products can also be made.

Cultivation of millets have long been declining due to declining consumer demand and preference for major cereals like rice and wheat. Of late, however, millets and other nutri-cereals are regaining popularity due to their health benefits, but packaged products with consumer appeal are yet to make a sufficient mark in the market. Technologies for making these in rural areas are also underdeveloped. A critical operation is removing the husk, which, if done manually by pounding, involves much drudgery, particularly for women who usually perform this task.

The Center for Technology Development (CTD), a division of the Society for Economic & Social Studies, a Core Support Group under TARA scheme of Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, has adapted the Multi-feed millet De-huller developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University & Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering. The De-huller design has been tweaked to enable simple adjustments that enable the use of the same machine to remove the husk of multiple millets such as Finger Millet (ragi in the South or mandua in Uttarakhand), Barnyard Millet (jhangora in UK), and some other millets elsewhere.

The Millet De-huller forms a key part of the hallmark CTD/SESS hub-and-spoke rural enterprise model for producing value-added Millet products. The model consists of a hub or ‘Mother’ Unit, located at CTD/SESS Campus in Sahaspur P.O., networking with modular ‘Satellite’ Units run by SHGs/FPOs or small entrepreneurs in decentralized locations where Millets are cultivated.

‘Satellite’ units at cluster-of-villages level use the De-huller to yield value-added de-husked Millets, which are then further processed using a Grinder to yield value-added millet flour, which can be used to make a variety of products. The De-huller can de-husk 100 kg grain per hour with a yield of 90-95% and, together with the Grinder, provides a common facility for villagers to make flour either for consumption or sale at minimum double the price of de-husked millet.

The flour can also be supplied to the CTD/SESS ‘mother unit’, which has a full-fledged tiny Bakery Unit with de-scaled machines to make value-added finished and packaged products.

This technology package and enterprise model generates considerable employment and income in rural areas, particularly among small farmers who constitute a majority of millet farmers. The De-huller significantly empowers women by removing drudgery from de-husking and aiding in income generation in women-headed households common in Uttarakhand due to out-migration of men-folk. Collective operations by women’s SHGs further empower women by enabling independent work outside the home and interaction with the market.  In the long run, revival of Millet cultivation will also assist in building climate-resilient agriculture and, along with related value-addition, may also help to address the problem of male out-migration.

At present, 5 more satellite units at different development stages are operational in different areas involving around 400 millet farmers. This technology package and enterprise model is ideal for small-farmer Self Help Groups, Farmer Producers organisations, and small rural entrepreneurs, with products catering to both local rural markets and more up-market urban or regional consumers.

CTD/SESS is currently working with local fabricators to develop capability to manufacture the De-Hulling Machine. Efforts are also underway to develop a small gas or biomass oven that can be used even at the satellite units for making simple value-added products for the local market.

The fruit is sweeter in taste, comparable to langra and being a dwarf variety, is suitable for kitchen gardening, high-density plantation, and can be grown in pots for some years too. Besides, the flesh of the fruits, which is bourn round the year, is deep orange with sweet taste, and the pulp has very less fiber content which differentiates it from other varieties. The bountiful of nutrients packed in mango are immensely good for health.

Poverty led Shrikishan, the brain behind this mango variety, to drop out of school after class two and take up the family profession of gardening (Mali). He had an interest in floriculture and orchard management while the family was focused on growing wheat and paddy. He realised that the success of crops like wheat and paddy was dependent on external factors like rainfall, animal attack, and so on, limiting their profits.

He started growing flowers to augment family’s income, the first ones being different varieties of roses, and sold them in the market. Along with this, he started growing mango too.

In 2000, he identified a mango tree in his orchard with an appreciable growth trend, dark green colored leaves. He noticed that the tree bloomed round the year. On observing these traits, he prepared five grafted mango plants using it as a scion. It took him about fifteen years to develop this variety by preserving and preparing the grafts. He noticed the grafted plants started bearing the fruits from the second year of grafting itself.

The innovative attributes of the variety have been verified by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), India, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. NIF also facilitated an on-site evaluation of the variety through ICAR – Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore, and a field testing at SKN Agriculture University, Jobner (Jaipur), Rajasthan. It is in the process of being registered under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act and ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi. NIF has also facilitated the plantation of Sadabahar mango variety in the Mughal Garden at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.

For this evergreen variety developed, Shrikishan Suman was conferred the NIF’s 9^th National Grassroots Innovation and Traditional Knowledge Award and subsequently recognised at various other fora. Through various channels, NIF has been making efforts towards dissemination of the information about the variety amongst farmers’ networks, government organisations, state agriculture departments, NGOs, etc.

Shrikishan Suman received over 8000 orders of Sadabahar gratings from India and abroad during 2017- 2020. He supplied over 6000 plants to different farmers spread across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Chandigarh during 2018-2020. Over 500 plants were transplanted at Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and research institutes in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by the innovator himself, and over 400 grafted plants were provided at different research institutes in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.