Procurement of culled apples under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) has declined sharply this year, with only around 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) procured so far against nearly a record 1 lakh MT last year.
With the apple harvest season nearing its end, procurement is unlikely to increase significantly, making this the lowest MIS procurement in Himachal Pradesh in the past decade.
The sharp fall has primarily been attributed to lower apple production and stable market prices, which have prompted growers to sell their entire produce in the open market rather than opting for the government procurement scheme.
The state had produced around 3.5 crore apple boxes last year. This year, production is unlikely to even touch the initial estimate of 2 crore boxes made by the Department of Horticulture.
“Many growers have not sold culled apples through MIS this season. Their entire produce has gone to the market as rates have remained stable this year,” said Lokinder Bisht, an apple grower from Rohru.
According to the Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC), which procures culled apples along with Himfed, around 18,000 growers have registered for MIS procurement this year, compared with nearly 45,000 last year.
The introduction of an online procurement system this year could also have contributed to the decline. The process was entirely manual until last year, raising questions over the accuracy of procurement figures. The concerns became more pronounced after procurement touched nearly 1 lakh MT last year.
“The online system has plugged loopholes in the procurement system. Now, the probability of inflated figures or any other irregularity is quite low. We will, however, be in a better position to assess the real impact of the system in a couple of seasons when production returns to normal,” said HPMC Managing Director DC Rana. Growers have largely welcomed the shift to online procurement, saying it would make the process smoother and more transparent.
“It will make the procurement system smoother and more transparent. It will also root out, to a large extent, the irregularities that took place under the manual procurement system. The system’s real test will be during a normal production year when MIS procurement is high,” Bisht said.
Growers, while alleging that irregularities were commonplace under the manual system, maintained that collection-centre agents, rather than growers, were responsible for them. They alleged that several such agents were appointed on political recommendations and subsequently exploited the scheme for personal benefit.
