Shimla: Himachal Pradesh has procured over 8,000 metric tonnes (MT) of apples under the market intervention scheme (MIS) so far this season, with more than 17,000 growers registering on the state’s newly digitised HPMIS portal, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced on Thursday.Procurement began on Aug 1 across 213 collection centres managed by HPMC and HIMFED and will run until Oct 31. The state govt has fully digitised MIS operations this year, streamlining grower registration, crop deposits, digital receipt generation, transportation tracking, factory processing, and direct benefit transfer (DBT) payments.Sukhu stated that the end-to-end digital setup makes procurement more transparent, accountable, and farmer-friendly. Farmers need to register only once through the HPMIS mobile app (Android/iOS), common service centres, lok mitra kendras, or gram panchayats. In Shimla district alone, 681 lok mitra kendras are operational to assist growers.Once growers deposit apples at designated collection points, the accepted quantity is logged digitally, and an instant receipt is sent to the grower’s registered mobile number or account. Payments are subsequently credited directly to verified bank accounts through DBT.The digital portal enables real-time tracking of fruit transport and processing operations at HPMC processing facilities in Parala, Parwanoo, and Jadol.Apples constitute nearly 80% of the state’s fruit production, with Shimla district contributing almost 55% of the overall output. Sukhu emphasised that the MIS provides growers an assured disposal mechanism during market glut while facilitating value addition, urging farmers to keep their mobile and banking details updated.
