Brisk apple buying, on account of price drop

Too many apples a day aren’t certainly good for growers. A bumper harvest in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradeesh has pushed down prices by a fifth over last year, causing further distress in the state, though corporate buyers such as Concor and Adani are purchasing briskly. The current prices at Shimla mandis are varying between Rs 300 and Rs 700 for a 20-22-kg box depending on the quality. The Kinnaur price is between Rs 1,300 and Rs 1,500 for a 20-22-kg box. The Jammu and Kashmir prices are varying from Rs 200 to Rs 800 for a 25-kg box. In Himachal, the crop is likely to touch 37.5-40 million boxes from the earlier expected 25 million boxes. Kashmir produces over 12 lakh metric tonnes a year and this year’s produce is over 30% from last year, but as per few sources, It would have been double but inclement weather, hailstorm and speedy winds destroyed most of the additional crop. The Kashmir apple grower is suffering from two immediate reasons — over-production in Himachal Pradesh and delayed monsoons. Usually, there was a gap of one month between the harvesting in Himachal and Kashmir and by Diwali, the rich harvest from J&K would start going to the market. The panic in Kashmir has added to the crisis. Currently, 700-800 truckloads are going to the Azadpur mandi against the demand of 300 truckloads. This has triggered a glut and a fall in the prices. With an 18,000-tonne controlled atmosphere (CA) storage in Himachal Pradesh, Adani’s Agri Fresh is hopeful of procuring over 25,000 tonne this year from both states, as in the previous year, due to high prices Adanis were only able to procure 9,000 tonne apple. Many other local Kashmir and Himachal based entrepreneurs has initiated the buy-out, as the harvesting has commenced and supposed to touch its maxima within a or, next two weeks.