Himachal apple farmers fear losses

Apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh have stopped harvesting the fruit because of the indefinite countrywide truckers' strike that began yesterday.

"Due to the uncertainty of the strike, growers (or farmers) have no choice but to stop picking the fruit. But if the strike drags for long, a large quantity could reach the market at the same time, and the glut could bring in losses for the growers," Lekh Raj Chauhan, president of the state Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association, said today.

Harvesting has been affected in the orchards of Shimla, Kinnaur, Solan, Kullu and Sirmaur districts.

"For now, no grower would like to take the risk of sending his produce to the markets, because it could take several days to do so. Hence apples would perish. So it is much better not to harvest," Chauhan said.

This is the peak season for apple harvest in the hill state, which, along with Jammu & Kashmir, accounts for almost the entire apple production in the country.

Though around 75 lakh apple boxes (each box weighs around 20 kg) have so far been sent out to other states since harvest began in July, around twice the amount is yet to be harvested.

In each August, about 500 trucks every day carry apples to various markets of the country, including Delhi.

"While 332 trucks started out from the Shimla district alone on August 21 (the day before the strike), only 54 left the next day," an official spokesman said today.

Even though the state truckers' union isn't participating in the strike, the problem remains unresolved because a majority of the fruit is lifted by trucks from the neighbouring states.

Today, trucks have almost stopped plying on the state highways. Farmers producing vegetables, too, are anxious about marketing their produce, which is far more perishable than apples.