Officials from the Indian apple-producing state of Himachal Pradesh have been in talks with the country’s central government about financial assistance following years of hail damage to the region’s crops.
According to a report on internet news portal Daijiworld.com, state horticulture minister Narender Bragta has asked the country’s agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that hailstorms be listed as a natural disaster. This would entitle growers to apply for financial assistance when crops sustain hail damage.
Mr Bragta said hail damage to the state’s apple crop in the past three years totalled Rs9bn (US$200m).
Cherry, pear and peach crops had also been affected, he added.
The news source reported Mr Bragta also met with the country’s Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma to discuss the economic impact to the state of the sale of cheaper imported apples from countries such as China.
The state’s fruit industry is estimated to be worth Rs15bn.
