A chance incident forced me to develop apple variety for summer temperature: Himachal Padma awardee 

The HRMN-99 variety is characterised by its striped red-over-yellow skin, soft and juicy pulp, and ability to produce up to 75 kg fruit per plant annually. It has brought a juicy nutritive variety more within reach in terms of geography and affordability.

Crediting Dr P L Gautam, a renowned agriculture-cum-horticulture researcher and former director of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), for his success besides thanking God,  Sharma said, “Prior to 1999-2000, I had two sources of earning my livelihood: Selling stones after breaking rocks in my land and selling vegetables grown in my agricultural land. Dr P L Gautam identified my potential and encouraged me to develop the new apple variety. He connected me with the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), which boosted my morale. It took me at least eight years to get a patent for the particular apple species grown on low altitude. I applied for the patent in 2014 and received it in 2022. HRMN-99 is the abbreviation of my name. Today, I run my own nursery near my village.”

Sharma, who studied up to Class 10, became orphaned in his childhood. “I received immense support from my family. My wife Kamla Devi and my elder son Pawan Kumar are assisting me to run our own nursery in Bilaspur. My younger son Sunil Kumar is a networking engineer settled in London. I have two daughters, who are married. My grandchildren are always curious whenever they see me working in my nursery.”

Unlike commercial apple varieties that require temperate climates and extended chilling hours, HRMN-99 thrives in tropical, sub-tropical and plain regions with summer temperatures reaching 40-45°C, enabling apple farming in areas where it was previously considered unviable.

In 2012, the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, verified the distinctness of the variety and supported its validation. The variety has expanded to 29 states and UTs.

For his innovation, Sharma was conferred the National Award in 2017 during the 9th National Biennial Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards by the then President Pranab Mukherjee. He has also won the National Innovative Farmer Award by Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry (2016), IARI Fellow Award (2017), Kisan Vaigyanik Upadhi by DDG, ICAR (2017), National Best Farmer Award (2018), Rashtriya Krishak Samrat Samman (2018) and Jagjivan Ram Krishi Abhinav Award (2019). He has represented India in the 4th ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) in November 2023 in Malaysia.

Besides the HRMN-99 apple, Sharma is “in the process of developing new varieties of plump, nectarine, apricot and other fruits in my nursery. I will distribute these plants to the people starting next year”.