Chinese apples slash profits of Indian growers

Developed countries like China has dumped the apples in domestic markets which has led to a crash. As a result Himachal apple growers alone have suffered a loss of around Rs 100 crore during the current season,HP Horticulture Minister Narendra Bragta said. We urged the Central Ministers to raise import duty on apple coming from China and other foreign countries to over 80 per cent”,Bragta said.

The import duty on the fruit at present is 50 per cent. He said that NDA government had hiked the duty on the delicious fruit to 50 per cent in 2000-2001 on personal intervention of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the current glut of imported apples has created an alarming situation which needs to be tackled on an emergency basis,he said. China is the largest producer of apple in the world followed by India.

President of Azadpur market (Asia’s biggest wholesale market of fruits & vegetables) based Apple Merchants Association,Metharam Kriplani said rush of apples from China in the last three years has seriously dented the profits of Indian Apple growers. Chinese apples land in large quantity at ports of Mumbai and Chennai from where it is transported to markets of Delhi and other major cities every day by road.

Despite being costlier than Indian Apples,the Chinese fruit which sells in Delhi at around Rs 150 a kg in comparison to Rs 80/kg,is attracting a large number of buyers in Delhi.

The crunchy Chinese Apples are drawing more buyers in the domestic markets than from HP and J-K, Kriplani added.

Delhi receives around 40 tonnes of Chines Apples everyday which sells off quickly, he said.

Himachal Pradesh Apple Growers Association President Lekhraj Chauhan said though Himachali Apples are better in taste,the fruit from China having distinct pink colour and crunch are having an edge over the crop from the Himalayan states.

Chauhan said apple cultivation in HP has dropped by more than half at 1.51 crore boxes from over 4 crore boxes in 2010.

Due to large scale production of the fruit,Himachal Pradesh is also known as Apple bowl of the country.

“Shortfall in the production of apple in Himachal this year has also given advantage to the fruit from China,” Chauhan said.

The state Horticulture minister Bragta said helped by geographical advantages and technology,apple yield in China and other developed countries is huge at 50-60 tonnes per hectare as compared to Indian yield of 5-10 tonnes per hectare.

To protect Indian apples from this uneven competition,Bragta suggested designating the apple as “Special Product” which,he said,can be included in the proposed Food Security Law to safeguard the interests of apple growers.