The agriculture produce market committee (APMC) at Vashi has not received apples from flood-hit Jammu & Kashmir for the past one week which has resulted in rise in price of the fruit. The juicy apples from Kasmir are unlikely to be available in the retail market before first week of October, sources claimed.
The supply of apples has dropped by around 40% at the APMC in the past one week. Most of the apples available at the APMC are from Himachal Pradesh. "The demand of apples from Himachal Pradesh has increased following the floods in Jammu & Kashmir to bridge the gap of supply and demand," said Sanjay Pansare, director fruit market, APMC, Vashi.
Apples from Kashmir contributes around 40% of the total requirement of Vashi APMC market which supplies the fruit to Mumbai, Thane, Virar and Navi Mumbai among other places. "Due to the calamity in J&K, no truck has been arriving from there at the Vashi market for the past one week," said Pansare.
The supply of Kashmiri apples begin after the season of apples of Himachal Pradesh gets over. "This is the peak time when we receive apples from Kashmir," said Pansare. He added that the floods in the state did not affect the fruit as most of the gardens are on hills where rainwater don't accumulate. "We have information that there is no major damage to crops. However, transportation of the fruit has been difficult as most of the roads in the state have got damaged due to floods," said Pansare.
Usually, the Vashi APMC receives around 80 to 90 trucks laden with apples from Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh and a few places in Jammu and Kashmir every day. However, the market is receiving around only 50 trucks daily following the floods in Jammu and Kashmir. On September 16, the APMC received 142 tonnes of apples.
At present, the apples are available at Rs50 to80 per kg in the wholesale market while they are sold Rs120 to 160 in retail. The prices are likely to rise in the days to come. "The prices of per box of apples from Himachal Pradesh have gone up by at least Rs200 which is likely go up further during Navratri," said a trader at APMC.
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