By IANS,
Shimla : The apple season in Himachal Pradesh is in full swing with 11 million boxes having been transported out of the state.
“Almost 50 percent of the total crop has been sent to various markets in the country,” Director of the State Horticulture Department Gurdev Singh told IANS Friday.
He said around 500 apple-laden trucks move out of the state daily.
The best quality apples in the country from the Chango, Ribba and Namgiya valleys of Kinnaur and Hurling in the Spiti subdivision have also reached the markets.
Varinder Sharma, an apple farmer from Oddi village in Shimla district, said the price of the Royal Delicious variety at the Chandigarh wholesale fruit market this week was Rs.700-Rs.850 per box of 25 kg, while Red variety was Rs.600-700 per box and that of Rich-a-Red variety was at Rs.700-750 per box.
“Last week the price of apple was high as the crop from high-altitude areas had not reached the markets. Now the crop from tribal Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts is ready, though not in large quantity, and the supply of apple has increased,” Sharma said.
Dharmender Singh Katoch, a farmer from Naggar village in Kullu district, said this year the apple crop was good and the farmers were getting good price by selling the crop directly in various markets like Chandigarh and Delhi.
He said agri-corporates like Adani Agri Fresh are not paying the best price to the farmers.
“The price offered by Adani this season is Rs 30 per kg for full sized Pure Royal apple and Rs 26 for small sized apple, which is too less. Moreover, the company is very selective in grading the apple and asking the farmers to deliver the crop at its cold storages in Shimla district,” Katoch said.
“It’s not profitable to deliver the crop in Shimla district which is more than 300 km from here. It is better to sell the crop in Chandigarh markets,” he said.
Apple is the main fruit crop of the state and is being grown in nine out of 12 districts. Apple accounts for about 40 percent of the total area under all fruit crop cultivation in the state.
More than 200,000 families in Himachal Pradesh are engaged in apple cultivation and 90 percent of them are small and marginal farmers with an average holding of less than 0.6 hectare.
Besides apples, other fruits such as pears, peaches, cherries and plums are the major commercial crops of the state.