Jahangeer Ganaie
Pulwama, Aug 7: The apples that had been languishing in cold storage for nearly ten months have finally been cleared as there was good demand for the apples in the last few days.
Growers and traders said that the next season has already started with plums and peaches kept in stores. They said apples kept in stores last year were not cleared yet.
They said the prices drastically decreased compared to the rates during the main apple season in October-November 2023, which has caused the stored produce to remain unsold for longer than usual. Typically, the apples would have been cleared by April or May.
“Typically, apples would have been cleared from cold storage units by April or May, but this year’s delayed clearance was due to the low demand for apples. Even C-grade apples fetched better returns during the main season,” said a grower. “This is an all-time low rate for produce kept in cold storage units.”
The increasing presence of South African apples in retail supermarkets and on e-commerce platforms across the country has exacerbated the situation, reducing demand for Kashmiri apples, driving prices down, and causing substantial losses for growers and traders, the growers explained.
Growers said that the apple boxes that were being sold at Rs 600-700 during the main season this year were sold at Rs 1200-1500 in the last few days as demand increased.
The increased demand has resulted in a favourable market for growers, with apple prices rising significantly at this last stage, they said, adding that this is the first time that a large portion of Kashmir’s apple produce has remained in cold storage units for an extended period due to low demand.
Approximately 3 lakh metric tons of apples are stored in different CA storages across Kashmir. On average, Kashmir produces over 20 lakh metric tonnes of apples annually, sometimes reaching up to 25 lakh metric tonnes.
According to the 2017 economic survey in J&K, half of Kashmir’s population is directly or indirectly dependent on the apple industry, with over 3.5 lakh hectares under apple cultivation.
