Kashmiri apples are in short supply in terminal markets across India ahead of Diwali, after an outbreak of scab, a fungal disease, damaged a large part of this year's crop, growers and dealers told the news agency PTI in a report carried by the Economic Times on 1 November.
"The demand is very good," said Zahoor Ahad Tantray, general secretary of the Kashmir Fruit Growers and Dealers Association, pointing in particular to large Grade A apples sold in gift packs. Supplies in the fruit mandis, he said, are not enough, because both primary and secondary scab spread widely this season and the quality of the fruit fell sharply.
By his estimate around 50 to 55 per cent, and as much as 60 per cent, of the apples now arriving are Grade B and Grade C, for which demand is very low. Growers are hit twice, he said: the cost of production is the same whatever the grade, but only Grade A earns good money. "Growers are worried, traders are worried, and buyers are worried," he said.
Mohammad Sohail Tanveer, a dealer from Bihar, said he was satisfied with prices. A wooden crate was selling for around Rs 1,300 and a cardboard carton for up to Rs 600, and some 400 to 500 truckloads were leaving the market every day, he said.
Photo: Revoshots / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Economic Times Agriculture/Food (report by PTI)
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