Lucknow, May 9 (IANS). Adani Agri Fresh Limited (AAFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), has announced its foray into the stone fruit category, including cherries like fruits, and plans to commence procurement of cherries in Himachal Pradesh.
According to the company, this expansion will improve the shelf life of fruits, farmers will get access to bigger markets and they will be able to get better prices for their produce. The controlled environment storage facilities available at six AAFL centers in Himachal Pradesh have been upgraded for storage and distribution of cherries.
It is noteworthy that AAFL has been among the first companies to purchase, store and market apples in an organized manner in Himachal Pradesh.
“We will start procurement of cherries from the coming season and gradually expand the business to other stone fruits like peaches and plums. This is part of our ongoing efforts towards enhancing our apple procurement experience and providing better markets to farmers,” said Manish Agarwal, business head, AAFL.
He said this at the ‘Fruit Horizon 2026: Globalizing India’s Fruit Value Chain’ event held this week, jointly organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Uttar Pradesh State Transformation Commission and the Department of Horticulture.
The company started operations in 2006 under the ‘Farm-Pick’ brand. Since then the company has purchased more than 3 lakh metric tonnes of apples from more than 17,000 farmers. In return, direct payment of about Rs 1,500 crore has been made to the farmers.
Adani Agri Fresh Limited has developed a total storage capacity of 25,000 MT in Himachal Pradesh, which is helping in preserving the fruits for a longer period and reaching the mass market.
The company uses a standardized grading and sorting system to determine transparent pricing based on quality. This reduces farmers’ dependence on traditional markets and gives them better prices.
The company is also expanding its ‘Digital Mandi’ initiative, through which farmers can sell their produce remotely without visiting procurement centres. Now this platform is being expanded to other areas also.
The company currently procures about 4 percent of the total apple production of Himachal Pradesh and is continuously expanding its capacity to reach more farmers.
AAFL is also working in collaboration with Adani Foundation, the social organization of Adani Group, for health, education and community development in the horticulture sectors.
–IANS
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