HPMC procures 98,000 tonne apple, three times more than last year

Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) has procured over 98,000 tonne culled apple this year, the highest since 2010. The procurement under the scheme in the last two years was significantly lower – 36,851 MT in 2024 and 52,373 MT in 2023.

“The procurement scheme was approved to run from August 20 to October 31. As there has been no request for extension, the scheme is officially closed for this year now,” said an official from the Department of Horticulture.

The major reason behind such a massive jump in the production of ‘C’ grade apple is heavy rains this season, which caused premature leaf fall in most orchards. “The premature leaf fall adversely affected the quality of apple. Even the recommended pesticides could not control the diseases,” said an apple grower. The high production of culled apple not only caused losses to the growers but it will also put a big financial burden on the government.

Roughly, the government will owe over Rs 120 crore to the growers as MIS payment for this year. “The government hasn’t cleared the full MIS payment from last year yet. The MIS liability on the government will increase manifold this year. So the government should start clearing the MIS payment at the earliest,” said Sohan Thakur, president of the state Seb Utpadak Sangh.

The growers want the Central government to extend a helping hand to the state in clearing the MIS payments. “The Centre is not allocating budget for the scheme since 2023. Earlier, the losses incurred by the state government in this welfare scheme for the growers were shared by the Centre and the state on 50:50 basis. The Centre should revert to the old system so that small and marginal growers get their payments on time,” said Harish Chauhan, the convener of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch.