Shimla, Oct 4 (Inditop.com) The world famous Delicious apples from Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district have recaptured the Indian markets this year despite low production and the farmers are getting record prices due to increased demand, an official said Sunday.
“The apple harvesting season from Kinnaur has picked up. Every day hundreds of apple cartons of Royal Delicious, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious varieties are reaching Chandigarh, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Lucknow markets,” Jagat Negi, horticulture development officer who is based in Kinnaur, told Inditop.
Apples from this tribal district command a virtual monopoly in the market because of their natural sweetness, colour and succulence.
Apples from Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts come when the crop from other districts in the state is almost over. However, the apple crop from Lahaul and Spiti district is yet to start.
“Like other districts in the state, the apple crop in Kinnaur district too has been affected due to unfavourable climatic conditions. The total production would be 35-40 percent lower than last year,” horticulture director Gurdev Singh said.
The total production will be around 16 lakh boxes of 25 kg each, considerably less than last year’s 25 lakh boxes, he said.
“The crop has been severely hit particularly in the valleys due to frequent fluctuations in temperature during the fruit-setting period. The extremely low temperature due to frost was mainly responsible for the poor yield. However, the crop in high-altitude areas has survived,” Singh added.
Confirmed Tejwant Negi, an apple farmer from the Sangla valley: “The overall production has not only declined but also the crop that survived has not attained optimum size and true colour.”
Interestingly, the farmers are getting record prices as the demand has far exceeded supply.
Pardeep Chauhan of Dogra Traders at Narkanda wholesale fruit market said the price of the apple from Kinnaur is ranging between Rs.1,200 and Rs.1,800 per 25-kg box.
“When the season started almost 10 days ago, the price was between Rs.2,000 and Rs.2,200. Even today, the apple is fetching a good price,” he said.
According to him, this season the price is almost Rs.500 per box more than last year.
Apple is the state’s main fruit crop and is being grown in nine out of 12 districts. The area under the apple crop has increased to 94,726 hectares in 2007-08 from 400 hectares in 1960-61.
Besides apple, other fruits like pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, kiwi, strawberry, olive, almonds and plums are other major commercial crops of Himachal Pradesh.
