Thanks for sharing this information. While not necessarily practical in the upper Midwest, it reveals a fascinating side to the relationship between apples and people. It also shows how resilient Malus can be.
Bill > > I’ve found reference to apples being grown commercially in Indonesia, > Thailand, Nicaragua, Honduras, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Yemen, > Egypt, and Malaysia. In 2005 Uganda did an extensive study exploring the > commercial opportunities for this high-value crop that you can see at > http://www.icra-edu.org/page.cfm?pageid=publicenglishUganda2005 > > Leaf-stripping in the tropics works on many varieties, and I’ve seen > Anna, Dorsett Golden, Ein Shemer, Beverly Hills, Gordon, Tropic Beauty, > Rome Beauty, Wealthy, Winter Banana, Granny Smith, and a bunch of local > varieties being grown. This season I have sent White Winter Pearmain, > Williams’ Pride, Arkansas Black, Dixie Red Delight, and Terry Winter to > Rwanda and Sierra Leone for testing in a effort to find better keeping > apples. By the way, no matter what the Thai claim, Anna was developed in > 1959 at Kibbutz Ein Shemer in Doar Na Shomron, Israel by Abba Stein as a > cross between the local cultivars Red Hadassiya (a plum-sized apple) and > Golden Delicious. The University of Florida also linked Abba Stein to > Dorsett Golden in 1980 in a rare bit of “apple intrigue†that you can > see at > http://www.fshs.org/Proceedings/Password%20Protected/1980%20Vol.%2093/108-109%20(MILLER).pdf > > Now if you have hopes of stripping leaves and getting two to three crops > per year in Los Angeles or Dallas, I’m sorry- it won’t work the same. > In the tropics day length is pretty much constant and I believe this is > partly why they can do it. We get two crops from several varieties here > in Southern California, but the second one is always stunted and inferior. > You will see “tropic highlands†mentioned a lot which inferred that > apple culture could only be done at higher, cooler altitudes. However, > trials in lowlands in the Philippines near Manila and in Nigeria proved > that they can get the same production as in the highlands. The key seems > to be finding varieties that do well ripening in the heat, thus my trials > with Williams’ Pride which blossoms and ripens well and colors up > wonderfully in our 100+ degree heat, and is resistant to foliar disease to > boot, a constant worry in hot, humid conditions. > > In Ba’Kelalan, Malaysia, they even have an Apple Festival where you can > stay at a guest house called the “Apple Lodgeâ€. See it in English at > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK0yW7U_ddQ and not in English (sorry, > can’t figure the language out) at > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrqK-5wli1E The apple industry was started > by a retired pastor and missionary who took over an orchard planted by the > government as an experiment and was failing badly, which he nursed back to > health. He traveled to Batu to see their culture methods and his brother > imported some varieties used. You’ll see the typical apple growth habit > in the tropics- leggy, bushy growth with lots of bare wood. There > tourists are treated to apple pie served on a banana leaf and other apple > delicacies (they need to bring in a cider press!) > > In Indonesia they use a Chinese Crabapple rootstock that they value enough > that it was sent to the Netherlands for virus indexing (I’m hunting down > a source for it). In 1995 Raphael Assaf from the Volcani Institute in > Israel released a series of rootstocks that were crosses between the local > Hashabi seedlings and the English Malling series dwarfing rootstocks that > proved much more productive in a hot climate. Almost all new orchards > planted in Israel are grown on this rootstock now, and I’ve had it > imported into quarantine at the USDA-APHIS this year for eventual trials > here in Southern California and possible export to the tropics. > > I became more involved in tropic apple culture when I was approached by a > ministry called “Apples for Africa†www.applesforafrica.com started by > a woman who was working with the innumerable widows and orphans in Rwanda. > Their desperate conditions broke her heart and she wanted to find a way > for them to have a home industry to help support themselves. In > conversation with her interpreter, he asked if they had apples in the USA, > as he’d never had one. Apples have a high value in the tropics, selling > for $1 US each (an unimaginable expense to most people). Growing apples > on a small plot would bring in much more money than a traditional crop > like cassava or yams. She asked about this at her local agricultural > extension in Oklahoma, and they told her apples wouldn’t grow in the > tropics. She finally found our website, and has arranged for the import > of apple benchgrafts to Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sudan this year and > Congo next season. > > If anyone has photos of apple growing in the tropics, I’d appreciate if > you can email them to me, as they’re a bit hard to find. Any cultural > information is also appreciated. > > Kevin Hauser > Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery > Riverside, Southern California > www.kuffelcreek.com > > > On Wed, 1 Apr 2009 16:56:51 -0700, Jim Rahe <r...@sfu.ca> wrote: >>>Dear all, >> A belated reply to Dr. Chiranjit Parmar's email of 2/17/09 regarding >> apples growing in Jawa, Indonesia that might be of interest of apple >> growers in temperate climates. I had the privilege of visiting this >> area, Batu Malang, approximately 100 km south of Surabaya in the >> eastern part of Jawa in 1991. It's a short drive out of the city of >> Malang (In the Indonesian language, 'batu' means 'rock', so Batu >> Malang means Malang's rock or hill. You can locate Malang on most >> maps of Indonesia, but not Batu Malang because it's relatively >> small). It was an amazing, eye opening experience. Batu Malang is, >> or at least was in 1991, a relatively prosperous town whose economy >> is largely derived from growth of apples and container nursery stock. >> The area is at about 1500 metres elevation, with an idyllic climate >> of daytime highs in the mid 20's and nighttime lows in the upper >> teens, centigrade. It appears that the trick to getting around the >> absence of winter chilling is to defoliate the trees by hand >> immediately after harvest. This throws the trees into a pseudo >> dormancy and new blossom buds break 6-8 weeks later. The area as a >> whole produces fresh apples 12 month of the year, with individual >> growers producing in Jan/Jul, Feb/ Aug, Mar/Sept, ..... The apples >> are exported to major cities throughout Indonesia, not only on Jawa >> but distant islands such as Sulawesi. (We lived in Manado, North >> Sulawesi from Aug 90-92, and apples from Batu Malang were often >> available in some of the commercial grocery stores, but not local >> markets.) There were four main varieties of apples being grown at >> Batu Malang, one of which was called 'Biasa', which means 'common' or >> 'nothing special', in the Indonesian language. It was commonly used >> for cooking and I was told that it was a Red Rome, although it was a >> nondescript yellowish color rather than red. Anna was another >> variety grown at Batu Malang. Anna is believed to have originated in >> Thailand, and is noted for having a low chilling requirement. One of >> the many unanswered questions that I have regarding growing apples in >> the tropics is whether the defoliation 'trick' would work with any or >> most varieties, or whether the four varieties being grown at Batu >> Malang are unusual in that defoliation can be substituted for winter >> chilling on these varieties but perhaps not others. Certainly, high >> elevation is a factor. Near Manado where my family lived in North >> Sulawesi, we saw apples being grown, albeit with very limited >> success, at the village of Tomohon, at an elevation of ~1200 meters. >> I was also informed that apples were being grown at high elevations >> on the Island of Irian Jaya, in the easternmost part of Indonesia. >> Although growing apples in the tropics was a surprise to me, and >> probably would be to most pomologists, it has been known long enough >> that the Indonsesian Ministry of Agiculture had a published handbook >> on methods of apple cultivation that I was able to obtain from the >> Batu Malang Research Station in 1992. There is also a Government >> Research Station at Batu Malang, with a research orchard. There I >> learned that defoliation does not work on stone fruits, but is being >> tried on several other temperate climate fruits. >> Jim Rahe >> >> -- >> Annie's Orchard >> 4092-248th Street >> Aldergrove, B.C. V4W 1B5 >> 604-856-3041 >> >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard >> <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon >> Clements <webmas...@virtualorchard.net>. >> >> Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent >> "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for >> the content. > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard > <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon > Clements <webmas...@virtualorchard.net>. > > Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent > "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for > the content. > > > > > > Bill Shoemaker University of Illinois St Charles Horticulture Research Center
