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Technical Kisanखेती, तकनीक के साथ
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Apple (Seb)All seasonsGrafted sapling on rootstockUpdated 27 September 2026

Red Delicious

Dark-red, five-bumped fruit with mild, sweet flesh. Its sports (Royal Delicious, Super Chief, Starking) offer higher colour but the same basic genetics.

SeasonAll seasons
Maturity period4–6 years to first bearing (grafted)
Expected yieldHigh (the commercial standard)
Suitable soilDeep, well-drained temperate orchard loam; pH 5.5–6.5

Quick facts

Crop
Apple (Seb)
Type
Grafted sapling on rootstock
Season
All seasons
Maturity period
4–6 years to first bearing (grafted)
Expected yield
High (the commercial standard)
Suitable soil
Deep, well-drained temperate orchard loam; pH 5.5–6.5
Release
Introduced to India in the early 1900s from the USA; not an Indian release

About this variety

Red Delicious is the variety that effectively created commercial apple production in India. Introduced into the Kashmir valley and Shimla hills in the early twentieth century, it displaced the older Ambri and local seedling orchards and still occupies the largest share of India's roughly 300,000 hectares of apple. The fruit is immediately recognisable — dark red, elongated-conical with five distinct bumps at the base, and a mild, sweet, low-acid flesh. It is not a cooking apple and does not store as well as harder-fleshed varieties, but it remains the baseline against which every other Indian apple variety is measured commercially. Its sport mutations (Royal Delicious, Super Chief, Starking, Red Chief) are genetically the same tree with incrementally better colour development, and they have largely replaced the original Red Delicious in new plantings while carrying forward the same scab-susceptibility and spray-programme dependence.

Key characteristics

    Plant typeGrafted sapling on rootstock
    Maturity4–6 years to first bearing (grafted)
    Yield potentialHigh (the commercial standard)
    Disease resistanceNo scab resistance — fully dependent on spray programme
    SoilDeep, well-drained temperate orchard loam; pH 5.5–6.5
    SeasonAll seasons

Sowing & cultivation

  • Spacing8 × 4 m (traditional, ~125 trees/acre); 3.5 × 1.5 m (high-density M9 trellis, ~1,000 trees/acre)
  • Fertilizer500–700 g N, 250–350 g P₂O₅, 500–700 g K₂O per bearing tree per year, split as per the crop guide schedule

Soil & climate

Soil

Suitable soil
Deep, well-drained loam; pH 5.5–6.5

Yield & maturity

Maturity period

4–6 years to first bearing (grafted)

Expected yield

High (the commercial standard)

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

Pest & disease considerations

Major diseases

Advantages & considerations

Why farmers may choose it

  • The commercial standard — buyers, traders and cold-chain operators know and price it reliably.
  • Proven performance across the full range of Indian apple-growing altitudes and rootstocks.
  • Its sports offer progressively better colour without needing a variety change in the rest of the orchard system.

Things to consider

  • Completely susceptible to apple scab — the full season-long spray programme is non-negotiable.
  • Fruit quality and storage life are below harder-fleshed modern varieties like Gala or Fuji.
  • Self-incompatible — needs a compatible pollinizer variety (Golden Delicious commonly used) and honeybee activity.

Suitable regions

The original American variety that still anchors Indian apple production, grown across the full high-altitude belt of Kashmir (Shopian, Pulwama, Baramulla, Kupwara) and Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur).

  • Jammu and Kashmir
  • Himachal Pradesh

Frequently asked questions

Is Red Delicious the same as Royal Delicious?

Royal Delicious is a sport (a natural colour mutation) of Red Delicious — genetically the same tree with better red-colour development on the fruit. They share the same scab susceptibility, growth habit and rootstock compatibility.

Sourced from: NHB Indian Horticulture Database — Apple statistics, SKUAST-Kashmir apple variety recommendations. editorial policy.