How One American Changed Himachal Forever — The Apple Revolution of 1916
The Man from Philadelphia
Samuel Evans Stokes was born in 1882 to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia. He came to India in 1904 at age 22, initially to work at a leprosy home in Subathu, near Shimla. He fell in love with Himachal. Then he fell in love with a Rajput woman named Agnes, from the village of Kotgarh. He married her, converted to Hinduism, took the name Satyanand Stokes, and decided to spend his life improving the lives of hill farmers.
In 1916, he imported apple saplings — Red Delicious and Golden Delicious varieties — from the nurseries of Louisiana, USA, and planted them on terraced fields in Kotgarh, at 1,800 metres altitude. The soil was right. The altitude was right. The cold winters and warm summers were right. The apples grew.
The Resistance
The local farmers were unconvinced. They grew barley, wheat, and potatoes — crops that fed families directly. An apple tree takes 5-7 years to bear fruit. For a subsistence farmer, that's five years of feeding a tree that gives nothing back. Stokes spent years persuading farmers to try. He gave away saplings for free. He demonstrated grafting techniques. He guaranteed to buy the first harvest himself.
By the 1930s, the first commercial orchards were producing. By the 1950s, after Independence, the new state government recognized the potential and began systematic promotion. The National Horticulture Board set up extension services. Roads were built to connect apple-growing areas to markets.
The Transformation
The numbers tell the story. In 1960, Himachal produced about 10,000 tonnes of apples. By 1980, it was 100,000 tonnes. By 2000, it was 300,000 tonnes. Today, the state produces approximately 600,000 tonnes annually, worth over ₹5,000 crore (roughly $600 million). Apples account for nearly 49% of the total fruit production of the state and directly support over 200,000 farming families.
The apple belt runs from Kotgarh and Narkanda near Shimla, through the Kullu valley, to parts of Mandi and Chamba. The best apples — the ones that fetch premium prices in Delhi's Azadpur mandi — come from above 2,200 metres, where the temperature differential between day and night gives the fruit its characteristic crunch and sweetness.
The Modern Challenge
Climate change is now threatening the revolution Stokes started. Apple trees require a specific number of "chilling hours" — hours below 7°C during winter — to fruit properly. As Himalayan winters warm, the chilling hours are declining. Farmers in the lower apple belt (1,500-1,800 metres) are reporting reduced yields and earlier flowering, which makes the blossoms vulnerable to late frost.
In response, Himachali farmers are doing what they've always done: adapting. Higher-altitude areas like Kinnaur (2,500-3,000 metres) are emerging as new apple powerhouses. New varieties — Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith — are being tested alongside the traditional Red Delicious. Some farmers are diversifying into cherries, plums, and kiwifruit.
Stokes' Legacy
Samuel Stokes died in 1946, a year before Indian independence. He is buried in Kotgarh. His great-grandchildren still live in the area. The original orchard he planted is still producing apples.
If you drive from Shimla toward Narkanda in September-October, you will pass through kilometre after kilometre of apple orchards. The trees are heavy with fruit — red, green, yellow, bending the branches to the ground. Trucks loaded with apple boxes clog the narrow mountain roads, heading to the fruit mandis in Shimla, Chandigarh, and Delhi. Every one of those trucks traces its lineage to one man from Philadelphia who looked at a Himalayan hillside and saw possibility.
Visit Kotgarh in October. The Apple Heritage Museum (small, community-run) tells the full story. The village itself is unchanged — stone houses, terraced orchards, and a quiet that suggests the mountains are satisfied with what they've produced.
