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Ludhiana
is known for foreign fruits
Ludhiana:
Exotic fruits are easily available in Ludhiana.
They include New Zealand's kiwi, Washington's apples,
California's purple grapes and Australian pear. They
may be more expensive than Indian produce, but the
fad for foreign fruits is growing in Ludhiana, Punjab's
largest fruit market. Everyday, dozens of trucks drop
a variety of fruits for the city's consumption. The
latest attraction are the imported ones, be it sweet
tamarind from Thailand or Khurmani from Turkey. The
markets are full of neatly packaged, branded and graded
foreign fruits. "Customers give preference to quality
products and worry little about the price. Imported
fruits are three times costlier than Indian fruits.
We are importing fruits from Australia, China, New
Zealand, France and America," said Amarveer Singh,
a fruit trader. Restrictions on import of fruits and
vegetables to India were lifted in 1999. Although,
India is the second largest fruit producer in the
world, there is scope for `foreign' fruits. Foreign
fruits are jostling for space with India's guavas,
oranges, sapatos, grapes and apples. According to
Amarveer Singh, "The quality and grading of foreign
products is unbeatable. This is what the Indian growers
sadly lack. The foreign growers don't use fertilizers
whereas Indians use more of fertilizers and our products
are less in demand at the International level." In
Ludhiana, people consider it prestigious to be hooked
on to a `foreign' tag. At social occasions and multinational
fast food joints, many are boastful of serving imported
fruit to their NRI relatives. Nisha, a resident says:
"We have NRI relatives and friends coming at home
and they feel happy as when we serve them imported
fruits." It may be `imported' fruits, and the Punjabis
think it is the right way for being healthy.
- June 8, 2007
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