FTAs will hit already stressed local apple economy

India’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with New Zealand, European Union and the US have deepened the lines of worry on the faces of apple growers of Himachal and Kashmir, who are already under a lot of pressure due to erratic weather, rising input costs and unstable market for their produce.

The huge influx of apple from Iran and Turkey had already created a major dent in the prices of locally-grown apple stored in CA stores. Now, these latest FTAs will hit the prices in the running market as well.

The apple industry abroad is highly developed, having major support in terms of policy, subsidies and incentives from their governments. The apple growers abroad also have an edge in production volumes and quality due to mechanisation and latest and higher yielding varieties of the fruit. New Zealand’s average production per hectare, for instance, is over 52 tonnes per hectare compared to 9-10 tonnes in Himachal and 12-16 tonnes in Kashmir.

Though Himachal is called the ‘apple bowl of India’, the state has no defined policy on horticulture to lay down the goals and directives for at least the next 20 years. Successive state governments have neglected this issue. The Horticulture Minister says, “We have no budget to make a policy.” Isn’t it the government’s duty to arrange the budget? We are a welfare state and apple is a major contributor to the economy of the state. Isn’t it the government’s duty bound to make a policy regarding horticulture, one of the most important sectors of the state?

Our constraints

We cannot adopt mechanisation on a large scale due to hilly and unfavorable terrain and scattered and small land holdings. We are dependent on migratory labour from Nepal to run our orchards. However, we have started facing the labour shortage as the Nepali labour is preferring Middle East and other destinations due to higher earning potential there.

Besides, we lack post harvest storage and value addition facilities. Consequently, over 85-90 per cent of the fresh produce has to be sold in the running market, causing a glut and price fall even below the cost of production at times.

Almost a decade back, the state government had brought in a World Bank-funded project of Rs 1,124 crore with great fanfare. Under the project, clonal rootstock, high colour strains and newer varieties were introduced.

However, few orchards, where the plants imported by the government were used, are making profit. The less than desired results were the consequences of a major thrust on M9 rootstock, which had spur varieties grafted. Spur varieties on the rootstock do not perform well in our conditions due to depleted nutrition in replanted sites and lack of adequate irrigation facilities. Instead M111 and other vigorous rootstocks of Geneva series should have been promoted. The only saving grace of the project was the revamping and upgradation of HPMC’s storage facilities and grading lines and the construction of the fruit processing plant at Parala.

The way forward

We understand that in national interest free trade agreements and duty reduction is necessary and will become the norm, but safeguarding the interest of the local growers also is the duty of the Centre. After all, the aim of imports is to complement not replace the local production.

To compete with imported apple, the local growers will need at least 7-8 years to move towards high colour strains and high density plantation to increase productivity. During this period, the government should provide incentives and subsidies to help the growers make the required changes. Therefore, the Minimum Import Price (MIP) should not be below Rs 100 per kg for any imported apple.

The FTAs can be turned into a blessing in disguise for the local growers if they accept the challenge and move towards producing better quality fruit and form cooperatives and farmer-producer companies. They need to collectively produce, grade, brand and market their produce. We are a nation of over 140 crore people and the market is huge. The only problem is that the growers are not organised. Now is the time to get organised and disciplined and adopt cooperative production and marketing to sustain and compete with onslaught of imported apples.

(The writer is a third generation apple grower and president of Progressive Growers Association)