Bite into the yellow Chinese Golden Delicious apple in Lalbagh

You might have bought an Apple product made in China, but now you can bite into Chinese apples in the city.

At the first-ever exhibition-cum-sale of apples and pears at Lalbagh, the Chinese Golden Delicious (yellow) Apple and dried apples from jars are drawing curious visitors.

Visitors braved the heat to buy and taste Chinese apple varieties on the first day of the four-day mela opposite Glass House on Thursday.  The yellow apple was the star attraction but the Krisp Dongzao Jujube and dry apple from Wei Nan also lured the visitors, who were keen to taste them before buying them.

The varieties on display are Red delicious, Cripps Pink, Royal Gala, Grammy Smith, Washington, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Belgium, New Zealand Delicious, Iran and China Variety. Pear varieties include South Africa, Golden Pear, Green and Red Pear and USA Green pear.

Managing Director of Horticulture Producers Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society Ltd (Hopcoms), Belluru Krishna, said this was the first apple mela and is organised by Hopcoms, the Horticulture Department and the India China Economic and Cultural Council.

The mela, inaugurated by Horticulture Minister Shamanur Shivashankarappa, is part of a bilateral agreement between China and India where apples will be imported and mangoes exported. China is the largest apple producer and Karnataka is the third largest mango-producing state. For this mela alone, 20 to 24 tonnes of apples have been brought in, mostly from China. India grows 21,63,440 tonnes of apples, but needs 4 to 5 lakh tonnes more to meet the demand. China produces 3,32,65,186 tonnes annually.

For the mela, the Chinese variety has been priced 10-15% less than the market rate and costs between Rs 126 and Rs 150. The Fuji apples’ rates have been slashed from Rs 185 to Rs 165. Vignesh A, a visitor from Lalbagh said, “The Chinese varieties are nice, but we prefer to buy the Indian ones. Another reason for preference of the Indian fruit is the rate.” Visitors had a tough time communicating with Chinese delegates due to the language barrier. Senior citizens were seen patiently trying to get information about their varieties.

Hopcoms staff stepped in to provide the information. When local people objected to some Chinese delegates smoking in the walkways and the tents, interpretors cited the language barrier in communicating the ban on smoking to them.

Mango mela delayed

The much-awaited mango mela is likely to get delayed by a week because of the delayed pre-monsoon showers. This time, the horticulture department is planning to host the mela in two phases, one in mid-May and the other at the end of May to ensure all mango varieties are included and to meet the demand.