Apple trade runs into rough weather, sales hit in Himachal

Ambika Sharma

Solan, July 27

With the vagaries of weather leading to low yield and growers resenting the state government’s mandate of using universal cartons instead of the old telescopic carton, apple trade has been reduced to a fraction in Solan-based fruit mandis.

Growers rue new carton rule

• Figures secured from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, Solan, reveals that as against 98,513 boxes of apples, which had been sold in 2023-24, barely 27,829 were sold this season
• As many as 4,09,763 boxes had reached markets during the corresponding period in 2022-23
• Apple growers have blamed the decline on the state government’s mandate of using universal cartons instead of the old telescopic carton

Figures secured from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), Solan, revealed that as against 98,513 boxes of apples, which had been sold in 2023-24, barely 27,829 were sold this season. As many as 4,09,763 boxes had reached markets during the corresponding period in 2022-23.

A box was being sold for the price ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 3,800 this season, depending on its quality. Whereas, it was sold at a rate ranging from Rs 450 to Rs 4,000 in 2023-2024 and Rs 380 to Rs 3100 in 2022-23.

Growers, who earlier sold their fruit at APMC mandis in Solan and Parwanoo, were now opting nearby markets of Pinjore and Chandigarh, said an apple trader in Parwanoo.

Sanjiv Bharanta, who heads the traders association in Parwanoo, claimed that the arrival of apples had been hit as the growers preferred to use telescopic cartons — in which small sized fruit could also be packed.

“Growers are taking the fruit to nearby mandis in Pinjore and Chandigarh, where there is no such stipulation. The use of universal carton should be adopted in Himachal once all states are doing so. By merely restricting the growers here, this norm was causing hardships for them,” he said.

Govind, a grower from Kotkhai, who has been selling apples in Solan, said, “The small-sized apples were easily sold with the big-sized fruit due to ease of packing in the telescopic carton.”

“Since the apple season was lean this year due to scant rain, majority of the crop comprised small-sized fruit, which lacked quality. The use of universal carton will incur losses to the growers,” he said.

However, the APMC officials attribute the low fruit arrival to the delayed start in apple harvesting. “The apple season will pick up after August 15 and will last longer. Sales will pick up in the weeks ahead,” said Dr Ravinder Sharma, secretary, APMC (Solan), who negated the impact of telescopic carton on apple sales.

Growers attribute the low arrival to the vagaries of weather, which has led to lower yield in the lower apple belt, but traders operating in Parwanoo stressed that the markets in Pinjore and Chandigarh were flooded with fruit from the state.