The Union government’s decision to relax 20% customs duty on apples imported from the U.S. at the recently concluded G-20 summit left orchardists in the Kashmir Valley jittery. The announcement has come in the wake of a dip in apple prices this year. Kashmir’s apple industry is battling a number of issues.
“Farmers in Kashmir have always sought 100% duty on apple imports to ensure better returns for locals. We will keep demanding an increase in import duties,” Majid Aslam Wafai, chairperson, All Kashmir Fruit Growers Dealers, told The Hindu.
“Apple growers are in distress. They faced huge losses as their input cost increased and the crop was sold at cheap rates. Two-thirds of the crop, such as C-grade [fruit], is unworthy of the market and could be diverted for juices. However, the J&K Horticulture Producing and Marketing Corporation in Sopore remains defunct,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.Y. Tarigami said.
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The National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Congress have demanded a roll-back of the Centre’s decision.
A labourer harvesting hybrid apples at a orchard in Budgam district central Kashmir. File. | Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad
“To please the Americans and other countries, the Centre is putting its own people in a tight spot. If not Kashmir, the Centre should have thought of Himachal and Uttarakhand. We don’t need apples from outside. We don’t need walnuts and almonds from outside for some cheers. The Centre should rethink about it. Local producers should get the relief, not outsiders,” NC vice president Omar Abdullah said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the move “will have a devastating effect on local growers in J&K already grappling with huge losses post 2019”. “Hope the Prime Minister’s Office reconsiders,” Ms. Mufti said.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that lifting additional duties would lead to “economic distress, huge losses to J&K and Himachal fruit Industry”. He urged the Centre to revisit the decision in the larger interests of growers.
“This decision will severely impact the fruit industry in J&K and Himachal, while J&K growers have already undergone tremendous losses, be it the unfavourable situation or the severe climatic conditions,” Mr. Mir said.
The Congress demanded a special bailout package for apple growers to overcome the economic crisis “instead of the decision regarding lifting import duties on American products”.
J&K produces over 73% of the total apples grown in the country. Official data show apple production in Kashmir crossed 20 lakh tonnes in 2022, and is likely to touch 22 lakh tonnes in 2023.
