Apple is one of the favorite fruits around the world. China accounts for more than 50% of apple production. India ranks 5th after Turkey, USA, and Poland. Apart from India, apple production is majorly done in the USA, UK, Israel, and Russia. It’s also produced in Argentina, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, and Japan, but the apples there are somewhat different in taste. Also, apples are one of the most widely produced fruits in the world after mangoes, bananas, oranges, and grapes.
About the Indian apples, most of them are produced in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland. Himachal Pradesh is the largest producer of apples. Besides Tibet and Kashmiri apples, the Himachali apples – Kinnaur and Shimla are in high demand in Indian mandis.
Himachal Pradesh – The Top Apple Producing State
The Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh is world-famous for its apple production. Here, apple cultivation is done on an area of about 1,00,000 hectares. Consequently, the apple business in this region is around 5,000 and a half crores annually. Kinnaur has the highest share in the apple mandi trade. These apples are in high demand in India as well as abroad. Most of the area in Kinnaur is located around Lahaul-Spiti and the China border. Due to high altitudes, this area stays cold. Furthermore, because of snowfall the quality of apples here is better compared to other places.
Maximum apple mandis are situated in Himachal alone. Apples are sold in Parala Mandi, Dhali Mandi, Hamirpur Mandi, Kangra Mandi, Kullu Mandi, Palampur Mandi, Santokhgarh Mandi, Bhuntar Mandi, Bandrol Mandi, Paonta Sahib, Rohru Mandi, and Bhattakufer Mandi. Some farmers send apples to these mandis and to those situated outside Himachal.
Apple Season in India
The season starts from late July and continues till mid-December. From the business point of view, apple production starts gaining momentum towards the end of July. Himachal produces 9.10 lakh tonnes of apples every year. Foreign apple varieties like Gala and Scarlett-2 have been grown here for the last ten years. Apple production in Himachal is more than 100 years old. Earlier, only the Royal variety of apples were grown in Himachal. But now, the foreign varieties such as Italian, Red Velox, Spur, Gala are in great demand in the mandis. The major Indian apple varieties include Red Delicious, Golden, MacIntosh, Chaubattia Anupam, and Lal Ambri.
High-demand Apple Varieties
- Fast-growing varieties: Red Spur Delicious, Red June, Red Gala, Royal Gala
- Medium-growing varieties: Scarlet Gala, Braeburn, Red Free, Real Mackay, Improved Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cortland, Red Gold
- Slow-growing apple varieties: Red Fuji, Granny Smith, Aztec, Rymer, Buckingham
Apple Mandi Trade Made Easy
Traders come to Himachal from the mandis of Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Punjab, etc. to buy apples. Due to rising competition in the mandis, the apple farmers earn huge benefits. Now they don’t even have to go to the mandis of other states to sell their produce. There are two main reasons behind this: (1) The farmers save time and cost by selling their apples in Rohru, Parala Mandi, including Dhali Mandi of Shimla. So, they don’t have to bear the cost of transportation, and there is no fear of apples getting spoiled. (2) Many mandi traders are doing apple mandi business online by downloading easy-to-use mobile apps such as Bijak agri commodity trading app. Mandi apps like Bijak help mandi traders connect & trade (at best rates) with trusted apple suppliers/buyers via chat or call. The best part about this agriculture commodity trading app is it’s 100% safe and Govt. approved.
We hope you found this blog on apple mandi trade insightful. If you want to know more about any other topic related to mandi trading, mandi bhav, or agri commodities trading, do let us know via the comment section below.
Also Read: Top 10 Mango Varieties Grown In India – Bijak Blog