Apple season begins on high hope

31 August 2009

This year, apple exporters are hoping for a good season as the apple prices have shot up to Nu 650 to 700 a box, the highest price recorded in the last 15 to 20 years.

Lungpa Tandin, the Secretary General of Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA), said, this season would be favourable for the farmers as apples exported to Bangladesh and India fetch good prices, may be due to a drop in yield in India.

The floor price for export quality apples sold to Bangladesh has increased from US$ 500 a metric tonnes (mt) in the last season to US$ 550 a mt this year.

The market price has climbed from US$ 580 to US$ 600 last year to US$ 680 to US$ 750 this season. According to M K Agarwal, an Indian exporter from Jaigaon who has been in the business for the last 15 years, last year, the highest price was Nu 450 to 500 a box but this year, it is Nu 700 a box.

He added that the reason for the price hike was due to a decrease in yield in the apple-producing regions of India. “The production went down by 75 percent due to less rainfall,” he said.

Agarwal exports apples to Bihar, Assam and Bengal. Till date, he has bought about 10,000 boxes of apples. On average, he exports about 20,000 boxes of apples every season. Last year, his turnover was about Nu 2.5 million.

S P Shah, another exporter from Jaigaon, who has exported about 50 truckloads of fruits till date, said the season was promising. “Last year, when the season began, the price was Nu 400 a box but this year it has started from Nu 650,” he said.

He added that this year’s quality of the fruit was also better than that of last year’s.

Shah attributed the price hike to the delay in apple season in the Indian states of Kashmir, Himachal and Simla. He, however, said the price was unpredictable. “Till Bishwakarma festival, there won’t be much fluctuation in the price level but after that, it might go down by 50 percent,” he said. Shah said that, on average, his business turnover was around Nu 5 million, and he hopes that the profit would be better this season as the season started off well.

However, exporters said that, irrespective of the taste, the sale of apples also depended on the face value. Mohammad Nurulhaque, an importer, said that, although Bhutanese apples taste better, the sales depended on how the fruits looked.

“The golden apple tastes better but it fetches a smaller price compared to the royal apples which have better look and colour,” he said.

Exporters said the grading system in Bhutan needed improvement. However, Lungpa Tandin said that, with the post-harvest centres set up, the grading system was better. “Now, the fruits go to the post-harvest centres where proper segregation is done,” he said.

According to BEA records, every year, around 70 percent of the apples produced in Bhutan is exported to India and 30 percent to Bangladesh. In 2008, Bhutan exported 2669.25 metric tonnes of apples worth Nu 67.53 million to India and 1216.153 mt worth US $ 0.61 to Bangladesh.

By Pushkar Chhetri

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