Himachal’s growth drops to 5.6%, apple crop sole saviour :

1. Even though the economic slowdown has apparently brought about a sharp decline in Himachal Pradesh’s growth rate, which has gone down to 5.6 per cent as compared to 7.1 per cent in 2018-19, the bumper apple crop has brought down the damage to a great extent.

2. Tabled in the Vidhan Sabha by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, the Economic Survey 2019-20 has indicated an increase of 6.6 per cent in the per capita income from Rs 1,83,108 to Rs 1,95, 255, yet the adverse impact of the slowdown is more than evident in practically all sectors.

3. It is the quantum increase of 42.82 per cent in horticultural production, mainly apples and temperate fruits, which has helped stabilise the economy and prevent it from plunging further. With a bumper apple crop, the yield touched 6.64 lakh tonnes this fiscal as compared to 3.68 lakh tonnes in 2018-19. In sharp contrast to this, the production of all nuts, dry fruits, citrus sand sub-tropical fruits declined drastically.

4. The growth rate was 6.8 per cent in 2017-18 and 7.1 per cent in 2018-19. The state has also failed to achieve its tax collection targets of Rs 6,869 crore, with only Rs 4,448 crore in its kitty by November 2019. In 2018-19, the Excise and Taxation Department collected taxes amounting to Rs 6,422 crore against a target of Rs 5,861 crore which was 9.57 per cent higher than the target. The GST revenue, pegged at Rs 3,238 crore, too has fallen short as by November 2019 only Rs 2,367 crore had been collected.

5. The share of agriculture and allied sectors declined to 12.73 per cent while share of crops and forestry too declined. The production of foodgrains has come down marginally from 16.92 lakh tonnes to 16.36 lakh tonnes in 2019-20. The production of vegetable too is down from 17.22 lakh tonnes to 16.56 lakh tonnes.

Himachal – The Apple State :

Apple, as a cash crop has given a platform to the people to raise themselves economically and has made the life easy. It always makes happy to look at the orchard with all its beauty and the apples making all the orchard young.

In India apple is mainly cultivated in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Uttrakhand. Himachal Pradesh has earned the fame of “Apple State”as the apple was first cultivated in Thanedar village of Shimla district. Apple is also the main cash crop of the state. Apple as a cash crop has given the people of Himachal Pradesh to raise themselves economically. It constitutes about 48% of the total area under production. The apple fruit industry has an economy of about Rs. 4000 crores. Himachal Pradesh currently produces an average of over 4 Lacs tonnes of apple annually,but the production is much less as compared to other countries such as China and United States.