Low apple harvest a blessing in disguise

Shimla, August 12

Less than the optimum yield, coupled with labour pangs amid the coronavirus pandemic and fungal attack in the state this season, has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for apple cultivators, who say the fruit’s prices have remained at a sweet high in north India.

“Apple prices are significantly high owing to its short supply. The prices have remained almost 25 to 30 per cent higher than last year’s, depending upon the quality,” said Vinod Kumar, a prominent apple grower from Dadesh village in Kotgarh tehsil in upper Shimla.

He said for the first time the growers were marketing and packaging apples in small boxes of 10 kg. Earlier, a box contained 22 kg of fruit.

“In the last season, an apple box of 22 kg was sold from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600. This time, we packed the apples in 10 kg boxes and each box fetched around Rs 1,100,” he added.

Trade insiders say this time apples are largely undersised owing to weather fluctuations and bear jet back spots because the scab disease.

As per the estimates of the Horticulture Department, the state is likely to produce 30 million boxes of apples this season — approximately five-six lakh tonnes — and this is 25-30 per cent less than last year’s record harvest.

The production is expected more in high altitude areas, Horticulture Secretary Amitabh Awasthi said.

Experts at the Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni say incidents of scab disease have been reported from some areas of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts.

Trader Naresh Chauhan at the Dhalli market said a 20 kg box of top quality Royal Delicious fetched between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,300 in Delhi’s Azadpur market, against Rs 1,500 per box last year.

This season, he said, only a few farmers opted to sell the apples in the state. A large consignment went to the wholesale market in Delhi where they got handsome prices. — IANS