India’s apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are once againdemanding government help to tackle a bogus packaging shortage - the latestproblem to blight their ill-fated apple season.
Himachal Pradesh’s Fruit and Vegetable Growers Confederationclaims a cartel of carton manufacturers has conspired to limit cartonavailability in order to inflate prices and make “hefty profits”.
The shortage is leaving growers, with 60 per cent of theircrop still to be picked, in total disarray, the state’s grower associationsaid.
In a statement, the group’s general secretary Sanjay Chauhanstrongly condemned the state government for failing to make proper arrangementsfor the ongoing apple season. “This shortage has resulted into heavy loses tothe fruit growers who were already facing big problems due to mismanagement,”he said.
He demanded that the state government intervene immediatelyto make cartons and trays available to the growers through state-ownedagencies.
Mr Chauhan also criticised the closure of the AIPIL cartonfactory in Kotkhai, alleging that it was done under pressure from the cartonand tray manufacturers.
In a separate development, Himachal Pradesh has become firstIndian state to install anti-hail guns to protect its valuable apple crop,according to local press reports.
The guns, which use shock waves to disperse hail clouds, areto be set up in Kharapathar, Jubbal, Kotkhai and Rohru areas on a pilot basisbefore being moved to other parts of the state.
Around 30 per cent apple crop in the upper areas of theShimla district is destroyed every year by hailstorms. The hail-gun project isexpected to save crop worth Rs50 crore in a single season.
