Parijat Jha

This project is based on 12 months of ethnographic research on apple cultivation and climate change in the western Himalayas of India, conducted in the apple-growing region of Himachal Pradesh. The research followed the full cycle of apple production, from pruning and orchard management to harvest and market exchange, through participant-observation with growers, laborers, traders, and agricultural officials. This project shows that climate change is experienced not as a single event, but as ongoing disruptions such as erratic weather, shifting winter conditions, and rising pest pressures. These changes are widely understood by growers to be affecting yields and increasing uncertainty. At the same time, they are driving significant changes in cultivation practices. Many farmers are adopting new high-density planting systems and relying more heavily on chemical inputs, often with support from government programs and private companies. These shifts require new forms of investment and technical knowledge and are contributing to growing inequalities between growers. The research also highlights how temperature is understood in practice, not only through scientific measurements but through everyday observation and experience. Overall, the study shows how climate change is reshaping agricultural life, decision-making, and the politics and conditions of work in the Himalayan apple economy.