Horticulture director Gurdev Singh said the apple crop suffered first due to the negligible snowfall last winter and the long dry spell during the current monsoon season.

'Apple crops have received 30-40 percent less rain since October. This has hit both quality and quantity. The total production would be around 18 million crates of 25 kg each, which will be considerably less than last year's 26 million crates,' Singh said.

Poor monsoon, he said, has also affected mango and citrus fruits in Kangra, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts. 'The loss to the horticulture sector alone is Rs.250 crore.'

Chief secretary Asha Swarup pegged the total loss for the state's farm community at Rs.850 crore, and said the government had doled out Rs.35 crore as relief to farmers and agriculture dependent sectors.

Revenue Minister Gulab Singh Thakur said steps like waiving off the surcharge tax on agriculture were being taken to help farmers.

'We are now preparing a memorandum to submit to the central government, seeking special grants under drought relief measures,' Thakur said.

Himachal Pradesh has already been declared drought-hit.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people in the state, providing direct employment to 69 percent of its workforce.

According to the state's Economic Survey for 2008-09, 86 percent of the total land holdings are of small and marginal farmers, 13 percent are owned by semi-medium and medium farmers and 0.4 percent by big farmers.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)