Situation unlikely to improve
India: Apple prices on the rise as floods hit supply
Sarabjeet Singh, APMC market official from Azadpur Mandi in the capital, said, “Due to the calamity in Jammu and Kashmir, no truck has been arriving in the Azadpur market for the last five or six days. We are getting apples from Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. There is a possibility of the rates sky-rocketing due to the high demand for apples, as opposed to the low supply,”
“Despite the prices of apples going northward prior to the festive season (due to the floods), the demand for, and consumption of, the fruit would remain unaffected during the festive season,” Singh stated.
Sanjay Pansare, director, APMC fruit market, Vashi, said, “Since the supply of apples from Jammu and Kashmir has stopped for the last five days, we import the fruit from Himachal Pradesh to bridge the demand-supply gap.”
“We sell it at Rs 50-80 per kg in the wholesale market, and it is available at Rs 80-120 per kg in the retail market. The price of imported apples from Himachal Pradesh is also set to rise, as the demand for the same is going up. In the past, the APMC market used to be packed with apples during the festive season, but not this year,” Pansare stated.
Ghulam Mohammed, secretary, Patna Fruit Merchant Association (PFMA), informed, “We expect 25-30 trucks of apples in our mandi daily from Jammu and Kashmir. These are of a superior quality, vis-a-vis the ones from Himachal Pradesh, which are of a lower quality.”
“However, the supply from Jammu and Kashmir has stopped, and I am not sure it would resume soon. It takes 8-10 days for the apples to arrive at the Patna mandi from Jammu and Kashmir by truck. Therefore, we are compelled to procure the fruit from Himachal Pradesh,” he added.
Source: fnbnews.com
