Kashmiri apples to be sold in Oman from November

Muscat: From this November, people in Oman can get a taste of famed Kashmiri apples, as the Lulu Group has procured a deal to import the fruit to Oman directly from Kashmir.

This August, in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lulu Group Chairman Yusuf Ali MA had expressed his willingness to procure Kashmiri agricultural produce and even set up a logistics hub in
Srinagar to allow for an uninterrupted supply of the fruit. On his part, PM Modi had welcomed Yusuf Ali’s move back then as well.

According to Lulu officials, around 200 tonnes of Kashmiri apples have already been shipped to the Middle East, with the intention of being sold on the shelves of Lulu Hypermarket.

“The shipment of 200 tonnes is actually just the first lot, we expect this to increase in the coming days. Soon we will be having a ‘Kashmir Promotion Week’ in Lulu Hypermarkets” Yusuf Ali said.

A high-level delegation, led by A V Ananth, director of the group, along with procurement experts, visited various Kashmiri farms and processing units to oversee the packaging and shipment process.

Apples are cultivated on about 387,000 hectares in Kashmir. It fetches about INR 80 billion (OMR 430 million) annually and the fruit supports 700,000 families. Kashmir contributes for roughly 75 per cent of the apples produced in India. Experts believe that the turnover could be much higher if processing plants and cold storages are set up in Kashmir.

Apart from apples, the Lulu group has also placed orders for saffron and will soon be sourcing rice, walnuts, pulses and spices from Kashmir. Despite recent activities in the state, the supply of apples and peaches from the Kashmir Valley to other parts of the country has nearly doubled. Quoting Jammu & Kashmir’s horticulture department, media reports state that the total dispatch of fruits this year has been 160,000 metric tonnes so far as against 89,000 metric tonnes during the corresponding period last year.