Despite fears of foreign apples hitting Indian markets and a lean season resulting in less than half of an average crop,for apple growers in Himachal Pradesh,money is pouring in with the market offering much better returns. More good news for apple growers in Kinnaur the states tribal belt known for one of the best varieties of apple as top corporate giants in the food processing industry were buying Kinnauri apples with rates hitting an all time high of Rs 1,800 to 2,000. We have corporate buyers like the Adani Group,Railway Container Corporation,Dev Bhumi Group and other bulk buyers camping all over Kinnuar. The fortunes of the apple growers in the area have smiled, said Tejwant Negi,BJP MLA from Kinnaur. His claims are authenticated by officials in the horticulture department. The buyers are even willing to handle operations like grading,packing,loading and transportation of boxes an advantage that Kinnauri apples growers perhaps had never thought of. State Principal Secretary (Horticulture) V C Pharka,who hails from Kinnaur,said: The entry of corporate houses in apple marketing and development of local terminal markets along the national highway between Pooh to Chandigarh has stabilised the fruit market,saving the growers from exploitation. This has proved to be a boon for the growers as they can get best price for their produce. Now,they can opt for any market or any way to sell the produce. Even elsewhere in the state,apple growers are getting good prices. As compared to Rs 1,100 per box last year,the growers are getting between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,700 in Delhis Azadpur market for every 20-kg box of best apples. Last year,while the state had the highest output of 4.46 crore boxes,this year,the figure is likely to be 1.50 crore. Till now,only 96,35 lakh boxes have been transported from the state against 2.80 crore till now in 2010. The affect of low crop can also be seen on procurement of processable grade of apples by government agencies like HPMC,which that has collected just 1,228 MT of apples against 26,459 MT last year. Had foreign apples not flooded Indian markets,the average sale rate of a apple box will have been Rs 2,000 plus. Because of these reasons,we are asking the Centre to increase import duty on foreign apples and declare apples a special product, Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta.
