After failing to find a market, the Uttarakhand government has tied up with Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev for the procurement of C-grade apples in the hills.
In the first step, Baba Ramdev’s food park at Haridwar has procured 15 tonnes of C-grade apples from farmers in the Chamoli district. A consignment of the apples is already on its way to Haridwar from Chamoli, a top official told Business Standard.
Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Food and Herbal Park has been built on 100 acres of land at Haridwar with an initial investment of ' 300 crore. The capacity of the food park is 1,000 million tonnes (mt) per day. The food park would prepare various food items like jam and murabba from these C-grade apples.
“Marketing for C-grade apples has always been a difficult task for us. But now, Baba Ramdev is ready to procure C-grade apples,” said the official.
Baba Ramdev has also agreed to pay ' one or two more than the minimum support price (MSP) of ' nine per kg.for the C-grade apples.
“We are putting our efforts in such a way that apples will not be allowed to get rotten, as happens generally,” said the official.
More From This Section
Besides, the government is also exploring new markets in the country for apples of Uttarakhand, which have so far failed to compete with that of Himachal Pradesh.
According to a new plan, the government has roped in private players to procure apples from far-flung areas of Uttarakhand and give a brand name. Some of the apple merchants from the south like C Pratapan of Safe Channel Fruits, are being invited for finding suitable markets for various delicious varieties of apples. In addition to this, the government is also looking for new brand names for apples of the hill state.