Apple production may halve due to unseasonal rains, snowfall; import restrictions to keep prices up

Prices of apples grown in the country are likely to remain firm as the government has put a cap on import of apples from Iran at Rs 50 per kg. Earlier, apples from Iran were imported at Rs 17-20 per kg.

Also, the severe earthquake in Turkey in March this year disrupted the supply of Turkish apples to India.

Ravinder Chauhan, president of the Apple Growers Association of India said, “We were expecting good crop this year but the unseasonal rains coupled with snowfall till the end of April is likely to bring down apple production of Himachal Pradesh, the largest grower to 1.5 crore boxes (each box weighing 22 kg) from 3 crore boxes produced last year. The situation is the same in Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir.”

The apple crop requires a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius during flowering. But this year the temperature has dipped to 7-8 degree Celsius thus impacting the flowering of the crop. The new apple crop will be harvested between August to October.

Demand for apples from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir has already shot up by 30 percent as Turkish apples that flooded the Indian market have stopped because of the earthquake. Prices of apples too have seen a 25 percent surge giving some relief to the domestic producers, who have been facing stiff competition from Turkish apples.
The supply of Iranian apples has also been hit due to the ongoing protest in the country. “The state of the economy in Iran is also in a mess, which too is a reason for a drop in exports from the nation,” said a fruit importer.

Chauhan said Prices of a box of an apple that constitutes around 24 kg of apples were selling at a price of Rs 2,000 last year. This year the prices have gone up to Rs 2500 per kg.
While Himachal Pradesh annually produces 3 crore boxes of apples, Jammu& Kashmir produces 14 crore boxes of apples. Nearly, 15-16 lakh apple producers in these two regions depend on their production to earn their living.