Kashmir apple farmers express concern over Indo-US trade deal
Valley accounts for 75% of nation’s total apple production
Apple growers in the Kashmir valley have expressed concern over the India–US trade deal, saying it could severely impact local farmers due to cheaper imports of apples from the US market.
The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-cum-Dealers’ Union, an umbrella elected body of fruit growers’ associations, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to “consider imposition of import duty on American/European apple to the extent of over and above 100 per cent”.
Chairman of the growers’ group, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, said apple growers in the Valley had long been seeking an import duty exceeding 100 per cent on American and European apples to enable growers from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to compete in Indian markets.
“Though under Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between two countries, i.e. New Zealand and this country, the import duty was reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, it did not prove fruitful,” Basheer said.
He added that more than seven lakh families are directly or indirectly dependent on the horticulture industry, which is considered the “backbone” and a major contributor to the economy of Jammu and Kashmir.
The union said that the apple industry in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand faces new challenges every year. “Sometimes apples are imported from Iran and sometimes from the United States and other countries as well,” he said, adding that such imports constantly put pressure on the local industry.
“The cumulative impact of such imports has been damaging local apple growers, particularly small and marginal growers who are already struggling with input costs, erratic weather, pest attacks and transport issues,” he said. “It is reiterated that the reduction in custom duty on American/European apple will make imported apples cheaper and a trader naturally prefers them over Kashmiri apple.”
He said this directly affects the pricing of apples from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Fayaz Ahmad Malik, president of the Sopore Fruit Mandi — the largest fruit market in the Valley — told The Tribune that the India–US deal was bad news for the apple industry in Kashmir. “We cannot compete with the produce of US… government needs to rethink about it,” he said.
The apple industry is regarded as the backbone of Kashmir’s economy and accounts for about 75 per cent of the country’s total apple production. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday had also warned that the proposed Indo-US trade deal would severely impact the Union Territory’s horticulture and dry fruit sectors, as key products from the US could enter India at zero duty.
