Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand growers seek remunerative prices for 3 grades of apples

Shimla, April 4

Apple Farmers Federation of India, comprising growers from Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi today. The apple growers from these three states denounced the “anti-horticulture policies” of the Union government, claiming that these policies had enabled large corporate houses make huge profits while the growers endured a decline in their incomes.

One of the major demands in their nine-point demand charter was the withdrawal of eviction orders that had been served to the farmers in J&K. “The Forest Department in Himachal Pradesh has also been sending out such eviction notices in recent years,” said federation’s convener Sohan Thakur.

Along with this, the demand for remunerative prices for A, B and C grade apples as well as revival for Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) was kept forth.

The other demands that the growers raised during the demonstration include setting genuine freight charges in J&K, declaring apple’s profitable value, imposition of 100 per cent import duty on apple and the approval for universal carton for packaging.

“Providing fertilisers, cartons at cheap rates to farmers, removal of GST on all products connected to apple, etc, are the other demands,” said Thakur.

The AFFI delegation had submitted a detailed memorandum to the Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar on July 28, outlining the aforementioned demands.

“Despite the submission of the memorandum, the minister failed to take action. As a result, the apple economy suffered a setback due to market conditions and climatic aberrations during the marketing season of 2022,” the federation said.