Will raise apple issue in Parliament: Rajni Patil

The cut in import duty on apple in back-to-back trade deals has left the apple growers extremely concerned about the future of apple cultivation in the state. While the import duty on New Zealand apple has been reduced to 25 per cent from 50 per cent, the duty on the fruit coming from European countries has been reduced to 20 per cent from 50 per cent. The growers feel that such drastic cuts in import duties push the local apple economy to the brink.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said he too had raised the issue of reduction of import duty on apple with Union Minister Piyush Goyal. “The Union Minister has asked the state government to send a team of officers and orchardists from the state to the Centre to discuss all aspect of the matter. We will soon send the team,” he said, adding that any reduction in import duty would seriously harm the interest of the apple growers.