India depends heavily on the apples from the southern hemisphere just before the local apple season kicks off in the country. The three major countries of import in this region for India would be Chile, South Africa and New Zealand. With European apples coming to an end India depends majorly on the apples from the southern hemisphere to suffice its demand. The country then sees local apples being harvested and being available for consumption in late July. But this season has been a roller coaster for Indian importers as well as the Indian growers.
Weather playing the spoilsport
The weather undoubtedly has been the major spoilsport for the countries in Southern Hemisphere. The most major one would be the cyclone Gabriel which hit New Zealand.
Final shipments of European apples
Every importer in India plans his consignments way in advance keeping in mind the transit time. The European apple imports are planned in a way that once the apples from the Southern Hemisphere start entering India, the European apple imports are reduced. Hence, with a good crop prediction from the 3 major southern hemisphere countries, the Indian importers planned more arrivals of apples from the Southern Hemisphere as compared from European countries like Italy, Poland as well Turkey.
But due to the sudden change in climatic conditions, it created a havoc in the Indian market. There was no sufficient arrivals from Europe and to add to the misery most of the importers had emptied their stock of European apples to prepare for the Southern Hemisphere crop. With reduction in quantity, the southern hemisphere countries had to turn more towards European and Chinese regions due to better pricing which affected the volumes entering India.
Indian apples take a major hit
India saw a major rise in the prices of apples from May. Himachal apples which were supposed to be of excellent quantity for the current season plunged due to rains and floods. Cyclone Biparjoy which was supposed to make landfall in south India diverted itself to the north and carried the monsoon rains to the north.
Conclusion and road ahead
The coming season looks highly promising for every country. The European countries are seeing a downfall in predictions but it is specific to certain varieties. All in all Europe is looking to have a good upcoming season. South Africa is having dry cold right now which is a good sign for the colour of the apples for the coming season. Chile and New Zealand are also showing positive sign. But Climate change is not going to be a one time thing. We are going to see such issues on a regular basis. Every country needs to prepare itself. We are going to see untimely rains, extreme weathers, etc. on a regular basis and we as agronomists must find ways to sustain these.
For more information:
CR Fruits International
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crfruitsinternational.com
