Himachal Pradesh: Shifting winters, falling prices make apple dream go sour

Shamsher Chandel

Shimla, February 20

February mostly marks the onset of spring in this part of the state. Even as March is approaching, it snowed for the second time yesterday in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh. This augurs a noticeable shift in the peak of winter, but is still good for the apple crop.

‘Get blackmailed’

 Apple has to be sold before it is overripe, thus growers get blackmailed into selling for whatever price they get. — Sohan Thakur, president of Himachal Apple Growers’ Association

“Better late than never,” sighs Harish Chauhan, the convener of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch of Himachal Pradesh, happy that the apple trees will get the number of chilling hours required for a good crop. But he adds with a tinge of concern, “This is just half the battle. The other half is the fight for the right price. And like the weather, that too has never been in our hands, something we have been fighting for generations.”

The gravity of the falling apple price is hurting not just Harish but the apple growers across the state. But when consumers pay, they have to pay through the nose as if it is a “forbidden” fruit. “And who takes the largest share of the pie,” Harish asks, and then lets you know, “It is the middlemen or arhtiyas.”

This has been the story ever since Himachal became synonymous with apples in the late 1960s.

“Almost three generations of apple growers have been part of this vicious cycle. Arhtiyas secure the produce, but pay for only half of what they have bought from the grower, and stagger the remaining payment. The last bit of the payment they do not pay at all and it keeps accumulating. After a few years, one realises that those smaller amounts of payments have turned into lakhs of rupees. And one cannot go from one arhtiya to another since the template of payment is similar,” says Sohan Thakur, president of Himachal Apple Growers Association. He sums up why apple growers have been caught in this vicious cycle for more than 60 years. “Apple is a perishable commodity and has to be sold before it gets overripe and thus the growers get blackmailed into selling for whatever price they get.”

Chauhan, too, endorses what Sohan Thakur says and attributes this “blackmail” by arhtiyas to the apple glut in the market between August 15 and September 15. All the farmers at once come to sell their crop. As a result, the best quality apple — as compared to the imported ones from the US or New Zealand — go very cheap. That it reaches the consumers at a high price means that most of the profit goes to the arhtiyas and retailers.

Post-September 15 things do not turn rosier. The apple growers of Shimla and Kullu have 15 more days left to sell their produce as after that the far superior produce from Kinnaur hits the market by October 1.

Sanjeev Thakur, an apple grower from Shilaroo, Shimla, says, “After September 15, we are left with the option of selling our produce at a throwaway price. We also overload each carton with 2-3 kg extra fruit for which we get Rs 50 to Rs 100 each box because soon the apple from Kinnaur is expected to hit the market.” He says this can change if there is more competition among apple packaging and supply chain firms such as Adani Agrifresh. Even more important than that is the setting up of cold store chains so that when there is a glut in the market, its further supply is staggered. This will ensure a regular supply of the fruit well into the winter months and it will result in good prices to the apple growers, he adds.

How cold stores can be of great utility? Mohinder Thakur, who owns an orchard in Shimla’s Theog, lets us know, “We normally sell apples to the arhtiyas for anything between Rs 60 to Rs 80 per kg depending on the quality of the fruit and the time of harvest. Last year, an Army Colonel driving past our orchard bought 10 apple boxes weighing 20 kg each and paid Rs 25,000 without fuss – almost a price of Rs 125 per kg. This could be the average per kg price if there are cold stores.”

Sanjay Chauhan, co-convener of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch, sums up the two issues apple growers are facing: “First, we should have cold stores and overloading of apple boxes should be stopped immediately. Universal cartons should be introduced so that a box of apple can have only 20 kg apple.”

While the apple growers are eagerly awaiting the good news, Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi’s words provide a glimmer of hope when he says, “We are setting up a chain of a dozen cold stores across the state and also we will soon introduce universal cartons.”