Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jan 17: Apple growers in Kashmir have been prompted to release their produce from cold storage units earlier than usual as the demand for the apples has picked up across the country.
The growers said that many of them have started releasing their produce from the cold storage units and transporting it to different markets amidst the good demand.
They said that Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage facilities usually begin dispatching apples to the markets around mid-February. However, this year, the growers initiated the process in early January to capitalize on favorable market conditions.
Mushtaq Ahmad, a fruit grower from Shopian, said that traditional apple boxes of around 10 kg are fetching around Rs 1200-1400 in market while big apple boxes containing around 16 kgs of apples are fetching around Rs 1700-1900 in market.
He said that almost all cold storage units in Pulwama and Shopian were completely filled in October 2024 as many growers preferred to keep their produce in cold storage units when demand was low.
Notably last year, around 20% of the apple produce remained unsold in cold storage, even after nine months and this situation was attributed to factors such as the influx of imported apples, which affected the demand for local produce.
However, this year the growers said that cold storage produce season has started on a high note and they are hopeful that this trend will continue the whole season.
They said that they are hopeful that the demand will continue to increase and the produce kept in cold storage units will fetch handsome returns.
They said that the cold storage units are giving them a freedom to sell their produce as per the demand in the market and there is a need for more cold storage units so as to maintain demand and supply chains.
Shahid Ahmad, Manager of a cold storage unit, said cold storage units have come in handy for Kashmiri apple growers as they have given them freedom to sell their produce as per their will.
He said that there is a good demand of the apple currently that has prompted growers to ask for the early release of their produce.
There are around 40 cold storage units in Kashmir and most of them are in SIDCO Lassipora.
Kashmir on average produces over 20 lakh metric tonnes of apples every year, a figure that in some years touches 25 lakh metric tonnes.
