Shimla: With about 15 percent of the apple crop still to be harvested, though the production has already surpassed its highest ever for the state but the growers are a remorseful lot due of the problems of plenty.
“We have got a record production of apples this year,†says Gurdev Singh, director horticulture. The harvest is still in progress and till date about 3.10 crore apple boxes have been sent out from the state for marketing in the country, he said.
The previous highest apple production of 2.97 crore boxes was recorded in 2007-08. Department officials are expecting the apple production to touch 3.85 crore boxes for the year.
Besides the fruit marketed, government agencies have procured about 55,000 metric tons of apples under market intervention schemes, a department statistician said.
The best harvest in terms of volumes has not been without it share of troubles; bad roads, shortages of packaging material and transportation trucks, labour problems, heavy rains damaging the fruit quality and falling prices only had the orchard owners pinning for last year’s market rates, when production was low.
“The heavy crop belied our hopes about good returns,†says Rajeev Chauhan an orchard owner from Jubbal. The government failed to maintain the road network and that proved very costly for the fruit growers, he said.
The packaging material supply chain as well as the fruit marketing operations faced frequent disruptions, said Chauhan. Restoring a road network would cause a glut in the market because of sudden increase in supply, which resulted in prices dropping, leaving very little profits from the sales made, he added.
Passing the buck, public works minister Gulab Singh Thakur said that the recent torrential rains and heavy flow of vehicles on Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti-Rohru road (lifeline to a major apple producing belt), has caused excessive damages to the road.
The PWD department has assessed the road network damages at Rs 1009 crore of which Shimla district, considered the apple heartland, alone has suffered a damage of about Rs 240 crores.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
How about accessing the damage done by the road network damage?
Last year’s bumper crop was not handled properly by the govt agencies like hpmc and himfed. About 2 lacs bags of apple purchased for making juice rotted at the purchase centres. When the matter came in media, the government tried to save its face by stating that organic manure shall be prepared from the rotten apples.
MD of hpmc had stated that out of 65000 metric ton apples purchased, 35% shall be utilized for making the said manure. This process was to take 4 month’s time and in 1st phase it was to be prepared in Gumma and Smaeil of Kotkhai.
Is there any outcome of the said ‘Gobar’?
Public memory is not that short!!