PrashantNews
The Uttarakhand Horticulture Department has shared two identical stories of apple growers from Mori belt in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on its website.
Daftar Singh Panwar, who hails from village Khedmi in his story, said he planted 600 apple trees a few years ago which is now giving him some earnings as he sells 150-200 apple boxes every year.
In a similar story, Shishpal Bharti of Vingsari village said he is earning Rs 3 lakh per year through the sale of his apples after he planted nearly 350 trees. Both Panwar and Bharati gave credit to the state horticulture centre in Mori for helping them to develop their apple business. Significantly, the two growers did not say whether their earnings cover the cost of production also.
Going by these two growers’ statements, it appears that apple cultivation is not a lucrative business in Uttarakhand just like Himachal and Kashmir. The experts said there is an urgent need to increase the income of apple growers which in turn can also mitigate the problem of migration in the state.
Traders say Uttarakhand’s share in India’s total apple production is just 2-8 percent. As per 2023 data, the total production of apples is 43328.86 MT per year in the state. Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are way ahead. The cultivation area is 11327.33 hectare. Trends indicate the production is falling gradually.
Despite several initiatives taken by the state horticulture department to develop the apple industry in Uttarakhand on the lines of Himachal Pradesh, the growers and traders in apple business largely remained unhappy.
Apple growers complain that they are not getting remunerative price for their crops in the hill state which in turn is not boosting the production. “There are several factors but the fact remains that we don’t get enough money required for the minimum decent living income. We have some other businesses also to sustain ourselves,” said Mohan Singh, an apple grower in Sukhitop area near Harsil in Uttarkashi district. Traders have asked the Uttarakhand government to emulate Himachal Pradesh’s model which provides better remunerative price to growers and help boost the production.
“When growers will get better price then naturally they will focus on the production of apples,” said Suresh Uniyal, secretary Gangotri Fruit Cooperative.
First of all, the state government should focus on the forward and backward linkages as far as the marketing of apples is concerned, experts said. On the lines of Himachal Pradesh, the state government should also open apple mandis at a number of places like Harsil in Uttarkashi district, they opined.
In the past few years, the government has taken several steps to boost apple production. The government has also set up a cold storage in the Harsil area. But the storage is not proving helpful to apple growers as there is hardly any B2B transaction.
The traders have also called for branding of the Uttarakhand apples. In many cases, the apples are being traded in the Himachal brand boxes. “This is an irony that we are doing the apple business in Uttarakhand under Himachal brand,” said L P Semwal, the head of Jagdamba Samiti, an NGO which is promoting apple business in Uttarkashi district.
Himachal Pradesh also declares an assured buying price for apple growers every year. There is no such incentive in Uttarakhand. “Under the assured price, the government assures growers that in case private players are not buying their apples, they can sell to the government at a certain price.
In 2012, the state government had set up a marketing board which is now defunct. “We think this marketing board should be activated for the promotion of apples,” said Semwal.
After the 2013 deluge, the centre has asked THDCIL to provide Rs 25 crore through the CSR funds to apple growers, whose crops were damaged in the incessant rains. “This money is lying useless with THDC. The company officials should disburse this amount to apple growers,” said Semwal.
Interestingly, apples were introduced in the 19th century in Harsil by Fredrick Wilson, an army deserter whose stories are very popular in Uttarakhand. Wilson who settled in Harsil area where he also constructed a beautiful bungalow in Harsil. In 1990s, two things happened – the bungalow was gutted in fire and the apple production started declining in the state. This is despite the good quality apples being grown in Harsil and other places.