Apple brings cheer

At least the mood is upbeat somewhere!

The Himachal Pradesh (HP) apple markets are full of cheer this year. Surrounded by tall mountains and the sweet smell of apples, the wholesalers are happy, looking as delightful as the apples they are selling.

Despite the pandemic, unlike expectations of a washout year due to low crop, they are getting great prices for their apples, making transactions worth crores every day.

They are getting prices, which on an average of more than Rs.1000 to 1500 more than last year. A new classic variety, King Rot is going for Rs 4,550 a box. Apart from Royal Delicious apples, other varieties like Spur, Scarlet- II, Red Chief, King Rot, Gala, Fuji and Granny Smith are in great demand.

The reason for the cheer and the higher prices? There are no foreign apples anymore giving them ­­competition. Earlier Washington apples, Chinese apples and others used to flood the markets. Due to lockdown, the foreign apples have disappeared. And this is the positive side to the lockdown and Covid.