HP apples giving foreign varieties a run for money
SHIMLA : Traditional apple varieties, grown in the state, are giving foreign varieties, particularly from China and the United States (US), a run for their money.
Usually, US apples fetch more price than Indian varieties, as they are better in quality, but bulk buyers say this time large stocks of apples, imported from the US, are still stored in cold stores and the demand for fresh apples, particularly delicious varieties, is on the higher side.
Secondly, China supplies more of Fiji and Gale Gala varieties, which are less expensive than the US Gale Gala variety and the Fiji variety, produced in China, has not reached the Indian market so far. Moreover, apples grown in HP have more shell life than US apples and are tastier.
The traditional variety, Royal Delicious, is fetching more price than the varieties grown in the US.
Samuel Evan Stokes, known as Satyanand Stokes, an American missionary settled in Kotgarh in 1916, introduced apple farming in the region.
More than 450 cultivars of apples, collected from all over the world, are now grown in the hilly state .The main varieties of commercial importance grown predominantly in the state, are Royal Delicious, Rich-ared, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious.
The apple harvest this year, that began in midjuly, had a slow start owing to the countrywide truckers’ strike. But, apple-plucking has picked up in the last one week and growers are getting a good price.
“Good quality apples are being sold for ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 a standard box( 20 kg),” says Partap Chauhan, a fruit merchant in Dhalli Sabzi Mandi.
“Royal apples are still more preferred in the market . Indians have more preference for the varieties, which are red in colour.
A Himachal government survey says that the state is expected to produce 1.92 crore apple boxes ( 20 kg each this year). This is the second consecutive year of a less-than-normal yield of 2.5 crore boxes. In 2017-18, the apple production was 2.23 crore boxes.
WEATHER VAGARIES
“Less snow reduced the moisture level in the soil, impacting the blooming of apple trees. The damage was more in apple trees in lower elevations below 7,000 feet,” said director horticulture Manohar Dhiman.
Drought-like conditions in May-june further affected the fruit size and less moisture did not allow the fruit to grow to its optimum size, he said.
The import duty on apples is already 50%, growers in Himachal are demanding that the government should impose 100% duty on the import of apples.
“Despite being the world's fifth largest apple producer, India has become a target market for the US apple industry,” said Lokinder Singh, president of the Progressive Apple Growers Association.