Kashmiri cherries arrived in Pune market, costlier this year

Kashmiri cherries in Pune market
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Anvita Srivastava

Pune, June 12, 2020: Cherries from Shopian in Kashmir have arrived in the wholesale market of Market Yard. The arrival of cherries started in Pune from last Sunday. However, the supply of cherries was delayed by 15 days due to the lockdown. This year it is costlier as the flight rates (for transportation) have increased.

“The supply of cherries in the Market Yard started since last Sunday. Farmers in the Shopian area of Kashmir has been sending the cherries to Pune through flights which come via Delhi. Normally supply starts in the last week of May but this year due to the lockdown and flight not being functional, it got delayed by a fortnight,” said Suyog Zende, a wholesale trader in Market Yard.

He further said, “The supply is good and even good quality cherries have also started coming in the market. However, as compared to last year, the rates are higher as the charges of flights have also increased. Earlier, flights used to charge Rs 42 per kg while this year they have increased to Rs 84-90 per kg. Therefore, cherries which was around Rs 200-250 per kg last year, is sold at Rs 300-350 per kg this year, depending on the varieties.”

Zende also informed that since not everyone is bulk buyer, therefore this year they have small boxes of cherries of 300 gm which cost to around Rs 120-150 per box. He said that around 1 tonne of cherries is coming every day in the Market Yard. “The supply is good this year and demand has also started picking from processing industry and export has also started. Therefore, it is most likely that prices will remain like this throughout the season. Cherries season will continue till the end of this month”, Zende added.

Lokumal Punjabi, another cherry trader in Market Yard, said, “This year the supply of cherries were delayed for around 15 days as flights were not functional during the lockdown and even the market yard was not functioning properly. However, finally, it has started from last Sunday and the overall supply is good as every day in my shop. Though, it is a little costlier this year as the wholesale rates of cherries are around Rs 300-350 per kg.”