Are Apple Growers Benefitting by Amended APMC Act in Himachal Pradesh?

This study has analysed the impact of amended APMC Act on apple business in Himachal Pradesh. It has found that there was no big effect of amendments on the production practices but impact was visible on the marketing practices, since growers through modern channels could get better prices with lesser risk. The study has covered two districts of Himachal Pradesh, viz. Shimla and Kullu and has used purposive, random and snow ball sampling for selection of the sample of 88 apple growers. Many aspects of marketing have been analysed in a very proper way. These apple growers were further categorized into two groups, viz. Group 1 (58 growers following traditional supply chain) and Group 2 (30 growers following both traditional and modern supply chain). It was found that cost and return structure under traditional channels was almost same for both the groups, but the respondents in Group 2 who followed the modern marketing channels, faced comparatively lower marketing cost and got higher returns. It was also found that marketing efficiency of Adani and Apni Mandi (Channel E) was highest as computed by Shepherd's formula and Acharya's formula, respectively.