With more than 40 per cent of the apple crop in Himachal Pradesh harvested and reaching various markets across the country, prices of the fruit have crashed. Traders here said the prices crashed due to heavy arrival of the fruit and were not likely to bounce back.
"The prices of all varieties of apples declined massively. A box of Royal Delicious these days is fetching around Rs 1,100 at auction, almost 50 per cent less than what was 10 days back," said Pratap Chauhan, a trader at Dhalli apple market near here. According to the estimates of the Horticulture Department, the State is heading for a bumper apple harvest this season after two consecutive years of less than normal yield.
A production of over 3.50 crore apple boxes of 20 kg each is expected, which is approximately 7.65 lakh tonnes, a horticulture department official said. He said 6.89 lakh tonnes of apple are expected to be marketed out of the state. Chauhan said the price of Royal Delicious came down by about Rs 200 per box in just two days. likewise, Red Gold is currently fetching from Rs 300 to Rs 600 per box while the earning for Golden is Rs 200-Rs 550.