Telangana farmer replicates the famed apple orchards of Kashmir in Deccan

DHANORA (KB Asifabad): The hilly rugged terrain of Adilabad is no Kashmir valley. But, Balaji Kendre, 35, has been able to replicate the apple orchards of Gulmarg, 2,000km down-south in the Deccan plateau. And he does this with aplomb, while wearing many hats at the same time.
Kendre is a grocer, an award-winning farmer, a Rythu Samanvaya Samithi coordinator and a driver too, who bagged the ‘Rashtra Uttama Rythu’, (Best Farmer Award) in 2017 for his flourishing apple cultivation on a 15-acre plot at Kerameri in KB Asifbad district.
Balaji, an Intermediate drop-out and not the traditional farmer who survives on one crop, began toying with the idea of growing apples in 2014 as he wanted to prove that anything could be grown in the soil of Telangana. “I wanted to show that what grows in Kashmir can be done here (Kerameri),” Balaji told TOI at his orchard at Dhanora. However, he wants the state government to support farmers, especially Adivasis.
“Mission Bhagiratha failed to some extent in our area because of the hillocks. Instead, the government can dig borewells,” he said.
The farmer, who champions organic farming, liaised with friends in Himachal Pradesh and discovered that Kerameri mandal has the right mix — hilly terrain, cool climes and streams — for growing apples. Kerimeri is the highest point in the state, located at an altitude of 220m above sea level.
Balaji then, through a nursery in Kashmir, ordered 50 apple saplings and brought them by flight to Hyderabad and then by road to the hinterland. Now, he has over 450 trees. Though the trees started paying dividends (each fruit weighing around 110 gms), he is not in a hurry to exploit them. “I will wait for another two years to start sending them into the market,” he told TOI. He anticipates that each tree would yield close to 100-150 fruits per annum.
The young farmer claims the ‘Telangana apple’ not only won him accolades, but also gave him lot of respect. He is so famous now that people don’t direct you to his grocery store, they drop you at his doorstep.
His organic farm has become a mini tourist spot with farmers from nearby villages, including those from Maharashtra, visiting his 15-acre agricultural field. “I get 4-5 farmers every week to know my technique to grow crops, he said. “I don’t use pesticides and depend only on organic methods,” he explained in Marathi to two farmers who came to his farm. Balaji has roots in Nanded in Maharashtra, but his grandfather migrated to Adilabad.
Erstwhile Adilabad is often dubbed Kashmir of the south, but Balaji proved that this adage is right at least in terms of producing apples.