Shimla, August 26
Apple prices hit the rock bottom as the hill state heads for a record crop with trends of market arrivals indicating that production will surpass the estimates by a good margin.

Already 1.54 crore standard boxes of apple have been sent to various markets as compared to only 81 lakh boxes in 2007 when the state recorded the highest ever production of 2.97 crore boxes till date. Thus, the produce already marketed is almost double of the previous highest. If the trend continues the production will not only cross 3 crore boxes but also may even exceed 3.5 crore boxes, much more than the upper limit of estimated production of 3.25 crore boxes for the season.

The harvesting is at its peak and as many as 1,169 trucks carrying over 5.5 lakh boxes left for various market during the past 24 hours. However, the prices have plummeted to the lowest level with the best quality royal delicious variety being sold at Rs 650 to Rs 800 per box. The relatively inferior varieties are fetching meagre Rs 350 to Rs 500 per box. The returns in real terms are much lower as the growers are being forced to spend almost 80 to 100 per cent higher transport charges because of shortage of trucks and bad conditions of roads.

Apart from fruit glut in the market, the delay in sending the produce to the market also affected price. The incessant rain affected plucking of fruit, non-availability of trucks, blockades of road by landslides and traffic jams delayed its transportation to market. Almost 60 to 80 per cent of the produce had reached the ripening stage before reaching the market, reducing its value by Rs 150 to Rs 200 per box. The ripe fruit could not be further sent to distant markets from Delhi as it gets spoiled during transportation.

The main reason for exceptionally high production was that the state was having a normal monsoon after a gap of 10 years.