Apple prices up 10% on high spoilage

Apple prices declined 10 per cent in the last fortnight owing to high spoilage to the crop that has arrived from Kashmir.

Premium quality apple is being quoted between Rs 300 and Rs 350 per box of 14 kg each, while that of poor quality is stands at low Rs 200 per box.

Premium quality apple vanished from the market as the percentage of damage is higher. This has been attributed to two reasons.

First, the crop in Jammu and Kashmir was comparatively lower this year which produces the premium quality apple. This quality apple has a long shelf life.

Second, the crop that is cultivated in the lower areas was harvested almost two months ago. With the lower shelf life that this quality has, the crop started rotting by the time it arrived in the markets.

Traders, however, believe there will be no shortage of premium quality apples in the country as the demand would be met by Himachal Pradesh, another apple-growing region.

"At least 10 per cent spoilage is very common owing to poor warehousing facility and worse packing and transportation system in our country. Today, the spoilage even goes up to 40 per cent. If the apple cartons are placed close to engines of the truck then the spoilage percentage is as high as 80 per cent," said Balasaheb Bende, director, fruit section, Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, Vashi.

Apple is a perishable commodity. The fruit flourishes in the cooler climes, which starts rotting even as it is being transported to the markets like Mumbai where the climate is totally opposite, said Bende. It takes eight days for the crop to reach the Mumbai consumers from Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.