Bad weather takes toll on Himachal apples

Production likely to come down by 50% this year

June 16, 2018 01:45 am | Updated 01:45 am IST - Shimla

Apple production in Himachal Pradesh is expected to come down by around 50% this year and the total number of boxes (approximately 20 kg each) may not even touch one crore because of the unfavourable weather conditions prevailing in the State for the past few months.

Shimla Deputy Commissioner’s office, which controls and administers the transportation and marketing of apples, has estimated a production of around 9 million apple boxes this year. Last year, the total production had touched around 15 million boxes in the State.

The rural Shimla district alone produces more than 80% of the Red Delicious apple variety in Himachal, while other districts like Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur, Chamba, Sirmaur, and Solan produce the rest of the crop.

Employment source

Apple is the main cash crop grown in the hill State. It is a ₹4,000-crore economy and gives direct and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of people. Early variety of apples from lower areas start reaching the markets in the last week of June. The Shimla district administration has directed the SDMs to fix the transportation rates of the produce from the farms to the roads and freight charges of the trucks in their areas.

Control room for trucks

The administration will also establish a control room at Fagu near Kufri to keep track of the loaded vehicles going out of the State.

The inspection will start July onwards till the end of the harvesting season in October. Other control rooms will be set up in Narkanda, Khara Pather, Naina-Balag, Kuddu, and Rampur.

The drivers and helpers of the trucks will be given identity cards by the Horticulture Produce and Marketing Corporation and only authorised truckers will be allowed to transport the produce.

This comes in the wake of several instances in the past of truckers running away with the produce. It has prompted a number of small growers to prefer selling their produce within the State instead of sending it to far-flung markets.

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