Prices of certain varieties that had reduced to Rs 40 a kg have risen to Rs 60-70 per kg
The sudden snowfall in Kashmir valley has severely affected apple trees and fruits and its impact is being seen in Mumbai also where apple prices in wholesale as well as in retail market have shot up by at least 20%. Some of the varieties of apples whose price had touched as low as Rs 30 to Rs 40 per kg in the wholesale market has bounced back to Rs 60 to Rs 70 per kg.
Traders in Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Vashi said that the supply went down by 50% from Kashmir due to snowfall in the valley last week. "We can expect more price rise in days come," said an administrative official from APMC.
November is the peak season when Mumbai receives a huge supply of apples from Kashmir. "We receive around 12 to 13 varieties of apples from Kashmir during November. And, due to good supply, the price has also come down sharply," said the official.
With the bumper crop in Kashmir this year, the apple price has come down to as low as Rs 30 per kg. "Even in the retail, Rs 50 to Rs 80 per kg, good quality fresh apple was available," said a trader from Vashi APMC.
Normally, during November, the Mumbai APMC in Vashi receives 40 to 50 trucks laden with apples every day. However, this year, the supply has reached 80 trucks per day. "There is a drop in supply. But it is still more than more than normal supply," said the APMC official.
Tausik Ahmad Abasi of Abasi Traders from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir said that they had incurred a huge loss due to snowfall on November 3. "Traders in Kashmir have incurred around Rs 500 crore loss," said Abasi. He added that there is a bumper crop this year and they were expecting to compensate their previous losses. However, the sudden snowfall has put a question on even getting their investment.
Manzoor Ahmad Qadri, director Horticulture department Kashmir said that they are still assessing the losses. "We are collecting data from each district and we will get more clarity of losses in a couple of weeks," said Qadri. However, he added that the yield will be impacted in years to come.
According to Qadri, this year, there is a bumper crop with around 90 lakh metric tonnes of apple in Kashmir. "The supply of apple to Mumbai and Delhi has become normal soon after the road was cleared after the snowfall," said Qadri. He added that in a week time, price in other cities will come down after apple will start reaching there.
IT'S RAINING SNOW
- J&K’s Baramulla-based apple traders said they had incurred a huge loss due to snowfall on November 3.
- APMC, Vashi said the supply has reduced by 50 per cent.
- Traders said more price rise is expected in the coming few days.
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