Daily apple arrivals witness sharp rise in Solan markets

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 22

Daily apple arrival is registering a steep hike in Solan with as many as 66,000 to 70,000 boxes reaching the fruit markets on a daily basis. “As many as 66,871 boxes were traded yesterday from the district comprising apple mandi at Solan, terminal market at Parwanoo and check post at Chakki Ka Mor,” Ravinder Sharma, secretary, Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, Solan.

As many as 7,89,663 boxes have been sold from the apple market yards as well as the markets outside the yards this season till now.

Parwanoo mandi favourite

• As much as 3,11,589 boxes have been traded this season from apple mandi, Solan, 4,65,572 boxes from the terminal market at Parwanoo and as many as 12,502 boxes have been sold at Chakki Ka Mor
• The terminal market of Parwanoo is emerging as the favourite destination of fruit growers
• The trade, which began from July 8, is picking up pace with a steep rise in the daily arrivals

The trade which began from July 8 is picking up pace with a steep rise in the daily arrivals. The season which began late this year is slated to register higher arrivals in the weeks to come. “The daily apple arrival has touched about 66,000 boxes to about 70,000 per day since the last about 10 days as against the average of 35,000 to 40,000 boxes received in the corresponding period in the previous years,” said Ravinder Sharma.

He added that the fruit fetched rates ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 165 per kg depending on the quality. Apples are traded in 10 and 20 kg boxes.

“The high apple arrival in the fruit mandis indicated the growing acceptance of the universal carton which had earlier received some resistance from the growers who had been complaining of incurring losses while selling smaller sized apples,” said mandi officials.

As much as 3,11,589 boxes have been traded this season from apple mandi, Solan, 4,65,572 boxes have been traded from the terminal market at Parwanoo and as many as 12,502 boxes have been sold from the check post at Chakki Ka Mor. The terminal market of Parwanoo was emerging as the favourite destination of growers for selling apples as against Solan which had been registering high sales in the previous two decades.

The apple crop this year was, however lean vis-à-vis previous years owing to the inclement weather. As many as 17,57,956 boxes had been sold till August 24 last year while 11,67,084 boxes had been sold in 2022 by this time in Solan. This year this figure stood at 7,89,663 boxes till last evening.