New Delhi/Srinagar: India’s apple production is expected to nearly halve this year after heavy rains and floods destroyed some $122 million worth of fruit in the main producing Himalayan region, officials and farmers’ unions said.
The hilly Kashmir region and Himachal Pradesh produce almost all of India’s apples, which are largely consumed domestically. Less than 2% of the country’s apples are exported, mostly to Bangladesh and Nepal.
Heavy rains have not only damaged farms but also destroyed $550 million worth of roads, power lines and infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh, while at the same time bad weather has affected India’s vital rice crop, leading to a ban on exports last week.
According to farmer unions, fruits including apples are rotting in the fields after fungal infection.
“About 10% of Himachal’s apple orchards have been washed away, which is a huge loss as the tree takes about 15 years to bear fruit,” said Harish Chauhan, state convenor of farmers’ union Sanyukta Kisan Manch.
The Apple Growers Association of India and Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers estimate that production in Kashmir, the country’s biggest apple producer, will drop by 50% this year from 1.87 million metric tonnes a year ago.
Ravinder Chauhan, president of the Apple Growers’ Association, said, “Crops have been affected mainly because there was not as much snowfall this winter as it should have been and subsequent excessive rains damaged the fields.”
Kashmir has received 50% above average rainfall so far this monsoon, which began on June 1, while Himachal, the second largest producing state, has recorded 79% above normal rainfall, data from the Met department showed.
Kashmir’s horticulture department estimates that the total loss to fruit crops is up to $109.78 million.
Production in the state of Himachal is expected to be down 40% from last year’s 640,000 metric tons, a state official said.
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi and Fayyaz Bukhari in Srinagar)
Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated from Reuters news service. ThePrint takes no responsibility for its content.
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