Unsafe Future of Agriculture Sector in Himachal

June 12, 2026

Himachal Pradesh, widely regarded as India’s fruit bowl, is central to the ecological imagination of the Himalaya. Yet behind the sprawling apple orchards of Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur, and the vegetable belts of Solan and other parts of the state, lies a largely unacknowledged crisis. Driven by intensive, high-value horticulture, the state has developed a deep reliance on Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHP). Its people and environment are paying a heavy price. The gravity of the HHP crisis in Himachal Pradesh is distinct from the agrarian struggles of many other states. The cultivation of highvalue cash crops such as apples and off-season vegetables, along with the practice of clearing commons and forest land with herbicides to cultivate monsoon-season peas, demands intensive agrochemical use. “By the time the apples are ready for harvest, I have already sprayed at least 10 or 12 times, and it is a growing concern year by year,” says a 65-year-old farmer from Banjar Valley in Kullu, who has more than four decades of orchard experience. He is not an exception.

Across the highvalue horticultural belts of Shimla and Kullu, repeated spraying of multiple formulations through a single season has become the norm. Because of the sheer frequency of application, the occupational exposure faced by Himachal Pradesh’s agricultural workforce is exceptionally high. Farmers and public health at risk The first casualty of this intensive HHP cycle is the farmer. Epidemiological studies from Kullu and Shimla reveal the suffering that has been normalised as the price of cultivation. Many farmers endure extreme fatigue, severe eye irritation, skin lesions and acute systemic toxicity as routine post-spray effects. What begins as an occupational hazard quickly compounds into a wider public health concern. Today, Himachal Pradesh registers the second-highest cancer incidence in the country.

The state’s cancer mortality rate stands at 9.5 per cent, higher than the national average of 7.7 per cent. More alarming than the current caseload is its trajectory. Cancer cases in Himachal Pradesh are rising at an annual growth rate of 2.2 per cent, far above the national growth rate of 0.6 per cent. The state is not merely following a national trend; it is accelerating past it.

The cancer figures cited in this report are drawn from a press statement issued by the Government of Himachal Pradesh on August 5, 2024, discussions held during the 2024-25 session of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. In the state assembly, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu publicly attributed this alarming surge to the excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers. The medical fraternity has echoed this concern. Leading oncologists in Himachal Pradesh have publicly called for a regulatory law, citing agricultural pesticides as a grave threat to public health