Himachal apples flood Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A bumper crop of apples in Himachal Pradesh has triggered a sharp dip in prices of apple in the city. Sales of the fruit have picked up at all local fruit markets in the city. The average cost of an apple is Rs.15, compared to the four for Rs.100 prices earlier, with retail markets […]

Hyderabad: A bumper crop of apples in Himachal Pradesh has triggered a sharp dip in prices of apple in the city.

Sales of the fruit have picked up at all local fruit markets in the city. The average cost of an apple is Rs.15, compared to the four for Rs.100 prices earlier, with retail markets seeing brisk sales.

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Apple arrivals to the city in July and August are usually from various districts of Himachal Pradesh with the variety popular here as the Shimla variety. It is grown in places including Shimla, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kullu, Mandi and Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. “Pricing is depending on the quality of apples. The smaller one is priced less while the bigger one is costlier. Shimla apples taste more or less the same and there are not many varieties compared to those apples grown in Kashmir,” said Mohammed Tajuddin, a fruit commission agent, adding that the colour of apple was also considered while pricing it.

The arrival of apples at the Batasingaram fruit market, Mozamjahi market and Gudimalkapur market starts from July and continues till mid-November. “This year, the arrivals started from the first week of August and now 15 to 20 truckloads are coming to the Batasingaram market from Himachal Pradesh.

We expect arrivals to touch at 40 trucks per day in the next few days,” Batasingaram market secretary Narasimha Reddy said, adding that the Kashmir variety of the apple was expected to reach Hyderabad”s market from next month onwards and would continue till the end of November.

A truck carries between 600 and 1,000 boxes, with each box containing 50, 150 or 180 apples. “In wholesale markets, a box containing 180 pieces of apples is sold at prices ranging from Rs.1200 to Rs.1400 a box now. For high quality, the prices are slightly higher,” Reddy said.

Khaja Miya, a pushcart vendor at Mehdipatnam, said the sales had picked up with customers purchasing at least half a dozen apples. “Due to Covid, the supply was affected and the sales were not encouraging. Business is quite in contrast now and is good,” he said.