Iceland-based firm to set up Rs 8 cr CA store for apple growers in Kinnaur district

Iceland-based company Geotropy Iceland would set up a controlled atmosphere (CA) store at Tapri in Kinnaur district on a pilot basis using innovative geothermal technology, benefitting local apple growers, officials said on Saturday.

A pact was inked between the state government and the company in this regard, in the presence of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a statement issued here said.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Managing Director of Horticultural Produce Marketing amp; Processing Corporation, Sudesh Kumar Mokhta, and Chairman of the Geotropy Iceland, Thomas Ottohansson.

The CA store would have a storage capacity of 1,000 tonnes and would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 8 crore.

The state government would provide all possible assistance to the company for realising this project, as geothermal energy was a renewable source that minimises greenhouse gas emissions, the Chief Minister said.

"The adoption of geothermal technology is useful in reducing carbon footprints, aligning with the state government's goal to preserve the environment. I am hopeful that the first geothermal technology-based CA store would be complete within a period of one year," he said.

In the times to come, additional geothermal technology-based CA stores would be established in the Sutlej Valley area, the Chief Minister said and directed the concerned officials to explore the possibilities of utilising this new age technology for electricity generation in Himachal Pradesh.

The chairman of the company Thomas Ottohansson provided insights into the project, underscoring the advantages of employing geothermal technology for the storage facility

Govt decided to organise Apple Festivals at Delhi,Chandigarh and Shimla

With a view to showcase Himachali apple and other organic produce out of the state, the government has for the first time decided to organise Apple Festivals at Delhi and Chandigarh besides Shimla.
A decision in this regard was taken during a meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary V.C Pharka regarding organisation of Apple Festival. It was decided to organise Apple Festival at Shimla in third week of September and at New Delhi and Himachal Bhawan, Chandigarh in second and thirds weeks of October, respectively.
Pharka said the main purpose of organising this festival was to educate people about various varieties and quality of apple being produced in Himachal Pradesh, which had emerged as a fruit bowl of the country. Besides, special varieties of apple, organic crops like rajmah, mash etc. being produced in the state would also be showcased during these festivals. He said this would go a long way in promoting them among the orchardists.
He said Himachal had around rupees four crore strong apple economy and with sustained efforts of the state government, the area under fruit cultivation had increased manifold. He said apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh had become the mainstay of over 1.7 lakh families as apple constitutes about 49 per cent of the area under fruit crops and about 85 per cent of all fruit production. Apple cultivation was providing gainful employment to millions of people of the region and the living standards of people had improved enormously.
The Chief Secretary said the apple growers would be organised during the Shimla Apple Festival.
The Apple Festival would be organised by the Tourism department in association with HPMC, HP Tourism Development Corporation, Horticulture and Agriculture departments.
Commissioner, Tourism Department Mohan Chauhan, Managing Director, HPTDC Dinesh Malhotra, Director, Managing Director, HPMC J.C Sharma, Horticulture D.P Bhangalia, Director, Language & Culture Shashi Sharma and other senior officers of different departments were present in the meeting.

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Market Intervention Scheme for apple procuremet

A Spokesperson of the State Government said here today that the Government has approved the implementation of Market Intervention Scheme for procurement of apple in Himachal Pradesh from 20th July, 2016 to 31st October, 2016 during the year 2016.
The Spokesperson said that under the scheme, 279 procurement centres would be opened as per demand of the fruit growers out of which, 162 collection centres would be opened and operated by the HPMC and 117 by HIMFED.
He said that the Market Intervention Scheme would be implemented for procurement of 1,10,704 metric ton apple for which procurement price would be Rs. 6.50 per kg whereas handling charges would be Rs. 2.75 per kg and assumed sale realization would be Rs. 3.50 per kg.  The fruits would be procured in 35 kg gunny bags with 2.5 percent more fruits in view of evapo-transpiration and respiration losses, he said.
He said that under the scheme only apple having diameter above 51mm would be procured/ accepted. Fruit having punctured skin or bird eaten, damaged, infested with insects, pests, fungal diseases including scab, ethral sprayed, immature, over mature or over ripe fruit and severely bruised fruit would not be accepted. However, fruits having slight hail damage, slight bruising, russeting and misshapen fruit would be accepted, he added.

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More than 1.16 crore apple boxes exported to markets

The State Government have been opened 257 collection centres under Market Intervention Scheme  (MIS) so far in the apple belts of the State. More procurement centres would be opened as per demand of the fruit growers during current apple season.

A spokesperson of the Horticulture Department disclosed here today that 25783 trucks carrying 1,16,02,484 boxes of apple had been exported to the markets. He said that 7525.760 metric tonnes of apple had been procured under MIS by HPMC and HIMFED upto 3 September, 2015.

Himachal to hold apple fests

Shimla, Sep 3. To promote tourism in the State, the department of Tourism & Civil Aviation in association with the Horticulture department will organise Apple Festival at Manali in Kullu district on 6th and 7th September 2005 and at Shimla on 12th and 13th September, 2015, a spokesman of Tourism department said here today.

The main attraction will be exhibition of variety of apples grown in the State, food products, comprising dishes made from apples and entertainment programmes, he said. He said that varieties of the delicious fruit will be on show for tourists during the course of the festival,

The spokesman said the festival at Manali would be organized at Manu Rangshala where about 20 stalls would be displayed there in the exhibition and few food product stalls would be installed near HPTDC hotel Manali.  He said that the exhibition of apples, apple products and exotic vegetables would be displayed at the Ridge and food product stall would be at Padam Dev Complex in Shimla.

Besides organizing exhibitions of various kinds, painting competition of school children will also be organized at Gaiety Theatre, Shimla on 11th September which will be displayed till 12th September. The State Tourism Department is also planning to take tourists in the vicinity of Shimla in coordination with Horticulture department to attract the tourists in the State through apple industry.

File fresh report on apple orchards on govt land: HC

The High Court directed the state government to file a fresh status report on raising apple orchards by encroaching the land in Kotkhai.
During the course of hearing, it was informed by the state government that it had filed a status report on the encroachment in Chaithala village in Kotkhai.
It was submitted in the report that 72-22-80 hectares of government land had been inspected and 57 persons, including 28 named in the complaint made to the High Court, had been found to have encroached upon land measuring to 315-18 bighas out of which 18 persons had been found to have constructed houses/sheds and electricity and water connections had been installed in most of them. It was also mentioned in the report that against some of them, eviction proceedings had already been initiated.
After hearing the matter for some time, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan asked private respondents to file the reply to the status report.
The court passed this order on a petition taken up suo motu as a letter was written to the Chief Justice by a resident of Chaithala.

More than 57.71 lakh apple boxes exported to markets

The State Government have been opened 240 collection centres under Market Intervention Scheme  (MIS) so far in the apple belts of the State. More procurement centres would be opened as per demand of the fruit growers during current apple season.

A spokesperson of the Horticulture Department disclosed here today that 12825 trucks carrying 57,71,333 boxes of apple had been exported to the markets. He said that 1551.560 metric tonnes of apple had been procured under MIS by HPMC and HIMFED upto 20th August, 2015.

Apples grown in cold a success in tropics too

Shimla, Feb 8 (IANS) Enterprising people in tropical Karnataka are experimenting in growing apples, mostly cultivated in the cold regions of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Horticulture scientist Chiranjit Parmar from Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh, who is the brain behind the success of this temperate fruit in the tropics, has been providing technical know-how to growers in Karnataka ...

Read full: http://in.news.yahoo.com/apples-grown-cold-success-tropics-too-092004542--finance.html Source: IANS

Ground apple - a crop that can boost Himachal's economy

It looks like a sweet potato but tastes like a sweet apple.

It's the exotic 'Peruvian ground apple', also known as 'ground apple' or 'yacon', a nutritious root vegetable low in calories and high in potassium and which can boost the economy of Himachal Pradesh. The crop has a huge market in the sucrose-free food industry, say agricultural experts.

Satyajeet Negi, a prominent apple grower near this town in Kinnaur district and the only ground apple grower in the state, has harvested its tuberous roots on an experimental basis in his orchard.

"I procured the tuberous roots from a Nepali migrant labourer and planted it in a portion of my apple orchards in Powari and Purbani villages (in Kalpa block) last April. In just seven months, it yielded a large harvest of tubers," Negi told IANS.

According to him, ground apple can be successfully grown at an altitude of 5,000 feet and above.

A member of the sunflower family, it grows well beneath a canopy of trees.

"The state should promote the commercial cultivation of ground apple as its demand in the food industry is remunerative," he said.

Nutrition experts say the tubers taste crunchy, crisp and refreshing just like a sweet apple. It contains carbohydrates in the form of inulin, a type of fructose, which is a suitable food for type II diabetics.

The ground apple also has potential as a forage crop with a high protein content.

Negi presented a sample of the ground apple yield to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla last month.

Impressed for adopting crop diversification, the chief minister asked scientists of Solan-based Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry to make efforts to popularise its cultivation.

Negi said since the university's research centres are located on the state's higher reaches, efforts could be made to grow ground apple. This will, besides adding to the economy of the hill people, will also fetch them a good amount by marketing its leaves, which has potential as a forage crop for animals.

Himachal Pradesh, emerging as the leading producer of vegetables like peas, cabbages, cauliflowers, tomatoes, capsicum and potatoes among the hill states, annually earns more than Rs.2,500 crore ($414 million) from this.

The state agriculture department says about 400,000 farmers, many of them with small holdings, are engaged in vegetable production.

The cultivation of exotic vegetables in polyhouses and setting up of controlled atmosphere chains are expected to add to earnings of the growers.

Source: IANS

Read Full: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/ground-apple-a-crop-that-can-boost-himachal-s-economy-115012500217_1.html

256 metric tonne apples procured under Market Intervention Scheme

A spokesman of Horticulture Department said here today that 255.516 metric tonne apples have been procured under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) upto 25^th August, 2014.

He said that 254.742 metric tonne apples have been procured by HPMC and 0.774 metric tonne by HIMFED under MIS during the period. He said that so far 151 apple collection centres have been opened by HPMC and HIMFED out of which 80 centres were opened by HPMC and 71 centres by HIMFED.

He said that 6511070 apple boxes i.e. 130221.40 metric tonne were exported outside the State as on 23^rd August through 14464 trucks.

125 Apple Collection Centres opened in the State

he State Government has opened 125 collection centres in the State for procurement of ‘C’ grade apple under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). This would ensure remunerative prices to the apple growers nearer to their door steps.

A spokesperson of the Horticulture Department disclosed that 117 collection centres were being opened in Shimla district, 7 in Mandi district and one in Chamba district which were being managed by HPMC and HIMFED. He said that 16 metric tonne of apple had been procured under MIS so far. 

He said that 48.38 lakh apple boxes had been exported from the State to different markets till date.

Apple fails to please Himachal farmers this time

Despite witnessing bumper production of apple crop this year growers in Himachal Pradesh are dejected as they failed to get the desired price due to dwindling market situation. But those who preferred vegetables over apple are beaming as they got good returns this time. Traditionally known as Apple state, now people are turning towards vegetable cultivation which is ensuring high returns and required less labour in comparison.

"We had bumper crop this year but even then we were forced to sell apple at much lower rates. Apple crop needs lots of labour but returns are low in comparison while on the other side vegetable is ensuring high returns and people are slowly turning towards vegetable cultivation in the district," said Ashutosh Chauhan, apple grower from Ratnari village of Shimla district.

Even in Kullu district people are more into vegetable cultivation now seeing good profit involved. Cash crops like tomato, peas and cabbage and cauliflower have ensured good returns to farmers this time. A trader from Kullu said that vegetable this time has ensured 50% more income. From Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu districts around 2.3 crore apple boxes have already been sent out of state but growers are not happy due to prevailing poor market conditions.

In Himachal Pradesh, commercial cultivation of apple had started from Shimla district but here too now people are turning towards vegetable cultivation in major way after fed up with the poor apple market and harassment at the hands of commission agents in the markets located outside the state.

With apple production facing a decline due to global warming and dwindling market conditions, vegetable cultivation is gaining popularity among farmers in the state. In 1951-52 state had vegetable production area of 3000 hectares with annual production of 25000 ton which has now increased to 65000 hectares with annual production of 1269 thousand tons during 2010-2011.

Vegetable economy in Himachal Pradesh has almost equaled apple economy. In the state vegetable economy is around Rs 1500 crore while apple economy is pegged around Rs 2500 crore. Good returns over the years has prompted 5 lakh farmers in the state to adopt vegetable cultivation whose net income has increased from Rs 8000-10,000 per hectare from food grains to Rs 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh per hectare after switching to off seasonal vegetable cultivation, said a senior official from agriculture department.

Factfile:

Major vegetable crop includes peas, tomato, capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower and potato. Annual production of Peas is around 2.54 lakh tone from 22,800 hectare area, while tomato production is 3.88 lakh tonne from 9900 hectare area, Capsicum production is 32000 tonne from 2100 hectare, potato production is 2 lakh tonne from 15000 hectare area, cabbage production is 1.44 lakh tonne from 4500 hectare area, Cauliflower production is 61000 tonnes from 3000 hectare area while Garlic production is 47000 tonnes from 3600 hectare area.

Via: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Apple-fails-to-please-Himachal-farmers-this-time/articleshow/23825233.cms

Mumbai institute to design standard apple cartons

The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Mumbai, will design standard cartons for packaging of apple. The task was assigned to the IIP by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to make the produce of the state internationally competitive.

The institute is designing standard cartons for large, medium and small grades of apple, besides extra-small and pittu (smallest) size fruit.

A team of experts from Mumbai visited the state and after collecting the details of size and quantity of the fruit suggested cartons of different sizes for packaging.

It asked the Horticulture Department to pack five cartons for each grade apple and sent these to Mumbai, Hyderabad and other distant places for trial.

The institute has also specified the quality of paper and its thickness to be used for making corrugated board of 5-ply and 7-ply. It will not be possible to use these cartons like the telescopic ones currently in use to pack large quantities of fruit.

Against the standard weight of 20 kg, growers at times pack more than 30 kg of fruit to reduce the marketing cost, which hits the return.

The telescopic cartons have a base of 303 mm x 280 mm and the height could be extended up to 504 mm. The standard 20 kg carton being designed will have the same base but the height will be fixed at 310 mm and it will have a capacity to hold 80 large, 100 medium and 150 small apples.

The carton for packaging extra small (175 apple) and pittu (200 apple) will also have base of same dimension and height will be slightly more at 330 mm.

After conducting the trials, the carton will be approved for use by growers. Director of APEDA Prakash Thakur said the whole objective of standardising the packaging was to ensure that only 20 kg of fruit was packed in a carton of standard size as per the international norms.

• The task is assigned to the IIP by APEDA to make the produce internationally competitive
• The institute of packaging is designing standard cartons for large, medium and small grades of apple, besides extra-small and smallest fruit
• It has also specified the quality of paper and its thickness to be used for making corrugated board

HPMC to export apple concentrate

The HP Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) will export apple juice concentrate to Dubai and big Indian companies like Nestle and Parle Agro.

Addressing a press conference here today, HPMC Managing Director Jagdish Sharma said an order for supplying 200 tonnes of apple concentrate had been received from a Dubai-based company. “We have set a target of producing 1,000 tonnes of apple concentrate. If need be, we will buy apples from Jammu and Kashmir and extend the crushing season till November 30,” he said.

He said Parle Agro was keen to purchase about 500 tonnes of apple concentrate and Nestle too was interested. “We have set a target of making 1000 tonnes of apple concentrate out of which we have already made 550 tonnes,” he said.

Last year, HPMC was able to produce only 400 metric tonnes of apple concentrate despite there being a lot of demand for the product.

The HPMC has so far procured about 14,000 metric tonnes of apples under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) out of which 7,000 metric tonnes have already been processed. Efforts are on to enhance the cold storage capacity of the HPMC and the defunct cold stores at Rohru, Jabli and Odi had been made operational this season.

The state government is getting a feasibility study done to assess the viability of setting up juice extraction units in the growing areas all over the state. A proposal to set up dehydration and processing units for vegetables is also under the consideration of the HPMC.

Himachal Pradesh launches a 170 hectares project to expand apple industry

Himachal Pradesh, the country's main apple-growing region that is heading for a bumper crop this season, has launched a rejuvenation project spread across 170 hectares in a bid to expand the apple industry in the state, one of its principal revenue earners that gives employment to thousands of people.

The measure is expected to benefit nearly 350 apple growers initially and 10,000 growers in the long run. Private investment is being encouraged to set up storage facilities with a controlled atmosphere.

Under the Rs.85-crore apple rejuvenation project launched in 2012-13, Rs.24.36 lakh has been spent by the state horticulture department for replacing old and uneconomic apple plantations with improved, high-yielding varieties in 170 hectares, a government spokesperson told IANS.

The project aims to cover over a period of five years 5,000 hectares where plantation was done before 1960.

Apple constitutes about 93 percent of the total fruit production in the state. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, in his budget speech March 14, explained that the rejuvenation project would see the planting of new trees to replace old ones. He said the desired results were however not achieved because the project did not provide for the uprooting of old trees in plantations that were nearly 60 years old.

"Now, new guidelines, including uprooting of old plantation, will be issued so that apple growers can rejuvenate their old orchards," he said.

Director of state horticulture department Gurdev Singh said the old orchards had 250 to 300 plants per hectare; under the rejuvenation project, high-density plantations, ranging from 700 to 800 plants per hectare would be raised in phases.

Besides, improved varieties and rootstock of apple are being imported by the horticulture department from other countries. These are being multiplied at orchards run by the state horticulture department for distribution to growers.

The state government has so far imported 10,300 plants of apple varieties Scarlet Sur, Super Chief, Dorsett Golden and Anna from France, the spokesperson said.

Surveys of the state horticulture department say the productivity of apple ranges from 6 to 11.5 tonnes per hectare in the state, in comparison to 35 to 40 tonnes in more advanced countries.

Himachal Pradesh's apple boom is credited to Satyanand (Samuel Evans Stokes Junior), an American missionary, who first introduced high-quality apples in the Kothgarh-Thanedar belt in upper Shimla in the early 1920s. As per the estimates of the horticulture department, the state is heading for a bumper apple harvest this season after two consecutive years of less than normal yield of 25 million boxes.

A production of over 35 million apple boxes of 20 kg each is expected, which is approximately 765,000 tonnes, said the spokesperson.

So far, over 17.5 million boxes have been sent to various markets in the country, he said.

The area under apple cultivation in the state has increased from 3,025 hectares in 1960-61 to 104,000 hectares in 2011-12, which constitutes more than 48 percent of the total area under fruit cultivation.

Courtesy: IANS

Apple prices crash in Himachal

The wholesale prices of apple and some other fruits in Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring States have been falling steeply.

The traders are blaming the farmers for creating a glut situation that has resulted in the fall in prices. Approximately 3.5 crore boxes, about 50 per cent of the crop, have arrived at various markets in the State, Chandigarh and Delhi.

A 20 kg box of top variety (Royal Delicious) apple that fetched a price of Rs.1,800 earlier is now being sold for only Rs.900-1,000 in Shimla.

Former State Horticulture Minister Narendra Bragta, who led a rally in the apple belt of Rohru and Kotkhai on Wednesday, has blamed the lifting of import duty on apple by the Congress Government for the falling prices.

The farmers also submitted a memorandum to the Governor on the bad plight of roads, increased transport tariffs, erratic power supply and shortage of labour in the apple producing areas of the State.

Via: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/apple-prices-crash-in-himachal/article5096206.ece

Pomegranate replaces apple as Himachal Pradesh's favourite

Unable to reap required results from apple trees, orchardists in lower belts of Himachal Pradesh are now shifting towards higher places and apples are being replaced by pomegranate. Apple belts of Bhuntar, Garhsa and Bajaura valleys in Kullu districts have been severely affected by global warming. To counter the situation, the horticulture department is now motivating fruits growers to replace apple with pomegranate, which is suitable for the changing climate of lower areas of the state. Apple, which grows in cold areas, is finding it difficult to survive in the rising temperature in the area. As a result, the fruit growers in Kullu, Mandi and Kinnaur districts are shifting to higher reaches. This has also led to illegal encroachments on forest land. As many as 1,005 cases of encroachment have already been registered with Kullu police where most of the encroachers had prepared apple orchards on more than 10 bighas. After successful plantation of apple in the Lahaul valley, farmers in cold deserts of Spiti are also growing apples on large scale at elevation ranging between 9,000 and 13,000 feet.

Bumper harvest spells loss for apple growers

A combination of factors - bumper crop, increasing labour wages, poor marketing, dilapidated roads, unavailability of cold storage and undersized fruit -- are making the apple growers in Himachal Pradesh see red. The apple prices have nosedived suddenly, after thousands of tonnes of apple from the hill state reached the fruit markets.