Makhdoom

Makhdoom is a commercially significant almond variety grown across both of India's real almond-producing states, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh — a genuinely dual-state footprint that few other named Indian almond releases share. It is documented as bearing soft-shell nuts with a shelling percentage of about 42%, and horticultural sources report an average productivity above 2.0 tonnes per hectare, a strong figure by Indian almond standards, though as with most orchard-productivity figures it reflects well-managed conditions rather than a guaranteed baseline for every planting. Its soft shell is a genuine convenience for hand-processing at the smallholder level, since it does not require the heavier cracking equipment a harder-shelled type might need.

Plant typeGrafted planting material
MaturityFirst bearing in 3 years (grafted)
Yield potential>2.0 t/ha reported average productivity
Disease resistanceNot specifically documented
SoilDeep, well-drained temperate orchard loam
SeasonAll seasons

• Spacing6–7 m, with a compatible pollinizer variety in every third row
• FertilizerA balanced NPK dose while young, moving to a higher, bloom-and-post-harvest-split dose once bearing (see the crop guide for the full schedule)

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

• Jammu and Kashmir
• Himachal Pradesh

• Waris

  A SKUAST-Kashmir-evaluated variety with a growth habit suited to high-density orcharding, bearing medium-sized, soft-shell nuts.

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• Shalimar

  A Kashmir variety with a spreading-to-drooping growth habit, notable for a high reported shelling percentage of about 50%, suited to export-quality kernel production.

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• Pramod

  A SKUAST-Kashmir-linked selection cited in local trial and phenology comparisons; detailed release and performance data was not confirmed in this research pass.

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• Nonpareil (California Paper Shell)

  The world's most widely grown commercial almond cultivar internationally, thin ("paper") shelled and long established in Kashmir orchards as both a commercial variety and a pollinizer.

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• Merced

  An imported American cultivar long grown and evaluated in Kashmir valley orchards, used both for its own nut crop and as a compatible pollinizer variety.

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• IXL

  An older, long-established imported cultivar historically grown in Kashmir orchards, still cited among the varieties compared in local performance and phenology studies alongside "Makhdoom", "Waris", "Shalimar" and "Nonpareil".

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