The Himachal Pradesh government will continue to procure Grade C apples at Rs 12 per kg under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and has also clarified that there is no cap on the quantity of fruit that growers can sell under the scheme, allaying fears of procurement limits.
“We could not increase the rate of procurement due to the financial situation, but there’s no plan to impose any procurement limit,” said Horticulture Minister Jagat Negi.
The growers had become worried after reports emerged that the government was considering a proposal to limit procurement from each grower to a fixed number of bags. Their concern was about where they would sell the apple left out of government procurement.
The Minister, however, made it clear that MIS procurement would be carried out through a digital platform this time to ensure transparency and better monitoring of the entire process. Growers will have to register on the MIS website and upload their bank account details and land records.
“The land records will help us check the irregularities that are often reported. They will also help assess the quantity of Grade C apples a particular farmer can produce from his orchards,” he said.
The Minister further said that Himfed would also be assigned some procurement centres along with HPMC. Himfed was excluded from the procurement process last year. “Instead of opening procurement centres in every nook and corner, we will focus on setting up cluster-based centres,” said Negi.
On the issue of the rapidly spreading Alternaria disease in apple orchards and growers’ suspicion that fake pesticides could be responsible for it, Negi said the department had already deputed teams to the field to collect pesticide samples for testing.
“If any pesticide is found to be fake, strict action will be taken,” he assured, adding that growers should use only those pesticides recommended by the University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.
