Himachal apples arrive in Hyderabad markets

While the Himachal apples, popularly referred as the Shimla variety, do not have many varieties, those grown in Kashmir come in lot of varieties

Hyderabad: The city markets have started witnessing the arrival of truckloads of apples from hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh.

The fruit is largely grown in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. While the Himachal apples, popularly referred as the Shimla variety, do not have many varieties, those grown in Kashmir come in lot of varieties, fruit sellers explain.

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According to officials at Batasingaram fruit market, four to five truckloads of apples are arriving from Himachal Pradesh and in the coming days, the arrivals will increase. Also, the trucks are arriving at Jambagh MJ Market (old fruit market) and Gudimalkapur market. The Kashmir variety is likely to arrive at the market in September.

A truck carries between 600 and 1,000 boxes, with each box containing 50,150 or 180 apples. A box containing 180 pieces of apples is sold at prices ranging from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,400 a box now. An average price for a good apple in the retail market is about Rs. 18.

Similarly, arrival of pomegranates has commenced with a pomegranate now being sold for about Rs 15 each as against a price of Rs 30 two weeks ago. The city gets pomegranates mainly from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh apart from those grown locally in Telangana.

In Maharashtra, it is grown widely in Jalna, Sangli, Sholapur, Aurangabad, Pune, Ahmednagar and Washi. In Karnataka it is grown in Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural, Belagavi and Bagalkot. From the fields there, the fruit is transported to the city to arrive at Batasingaram market.

Pomegranates are packed in a box in the wholesale market. Each box contains between 50 and 100 fruits, and these are further distributed to local vendors who sell the fruit in retail.