More than 92 lakh boxes of apples have already been dispatched from Himachal Pradesh, leaving barely 15 percent of the crop yet to be sold in the higher reaches of Shimla. While early arrivals of the crop sold for anywhere between Rs 1,800 to 2,200 per box ( 18 to 22 kg respectively ), the lowest price at Delhi’s Azadpur market - India’s biggest bulk market, is still a healthy Rs 1,300 to 1,400 per box.

The rates had earlier been swinging between Rs 600 to Rs 1300 during the entire season and sometime the market slump even forced the orchard owners to sell the apples for as little as Rs 400 per box. Thus,despite losing almost 50 to 55 percent of the crop ,the orchard owners made more money than what they had made during their bumper crop seasons two years ago.   Pratap Chauhan,an orchard owner ,who normally used to earn between Rs 6 to 7 lakhs, is delighted at having doubled his income despite his crop falling 40 to 45 percent short of last years levels.

What has really added to the growers’ advantage this year is the emergence of new markets in the apple belt. Instead of transporting the boxes to the markets in Delhi,Mumbai or Chandigarh, the growers can now sell their produce at competitive prices at local markets since bulk buyers across the country are flocking to them.   Ram Lal,an orchard owner at Kotkhai said,” Sale at the farm gate is the best thing to happen to a farmer who gets exploited in the big markets outside. Here the farmer remains a master of his produce and can negotiate the price. This has eliminated the element of commission, upto six percent , being charged from every grower by the middlemen”.

In fact , three years ago,some of the leading corporate houses like Adani Agri-Fresh, a Gujarat based company entered the apple marketing, investing almost Rs 150 crores in Himachal Pradesh to set up Controlled Atmospheric (CA) stores. Later, the Reliance group and the Container Corporation of India, also started buying apples from these orchards. This year, nearly two dozen traders from major cities namely Chennai,Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bhopal,Jaipur and Agra also came shopping for apples directly from the orchard owners.