3 months ago
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The communicative truthful far: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Leader of the Opposition successful J&K Mehbooba Mufti person termed the India-U.S. commercialized woody arsenic a decease knell for the horticulture sector, particularly for pome accumulation successful Kashmir. The disapproval has grown shriller successful the backdrop of India’s determination to trim basal customs work connected apples imported from the U.S. from 50% to 25%, adjacent though the Minimum Import Price (MIP) was acceptable astatine ₹80 per kilogram. Under the caller India-European Union commercialized deal, import work connected caller fruits was reduced to 20% nether a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) system. Only 50,000 tonnes per twelvemonth of apples volition beryllium allowed from the EU astatine this reduced duty, to debar the abrupt flooding of Indian markets. However, the woody agrees to summation the quota to 1,00,000 tonnes implicit the adjacent 10 years.
How important is pome production?
According to the J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, pome accumulation comprises 50% of the full horticulture accumulation of J&K against pear, apricot, peach, plum, cherry, citrus, mango, walnut, almond etc. The horticulture assemblage produces astir ₹10,000 crore successful gross and employs astir 35 lakh individuals, either straight oregon indirectly, thereby supporting astir 7 lakh families, the authoritative survey suggested.
In 2024, pome accumulation successful J&K stood astatine 21 lakh metric tonnes. Over 173.07 lakh hectares of onshore successful J&K are nether pome orchards. J&K contributes to implicit 70% of the full pome accumulation successful the country.
The pome is the 4th astir important effect harvest successful India.
Besides J&K, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, and Sikkim besides nutrient apples.
Why are determination fears?
Kashmir cannot vie with apples produced successful Western countries owed to their farming practices, favourable authorities argumentation and technological intervention. One estimation suggests that orchardists successful New Zealand, the U.S., and successful the EU connected an mean run connected 50-plus hectare farms against an mean of 0.40 hectares successful J&K. Only 7-8 tonnes of apples per hectare tin beryllium produced successful India, whereas 40-70 tonnes per hectare are produced successful countries similar the U.S., Iran, New Zealand and China owing to amended geography, precocious exertion and mechanisation, says Nasir Hamid Khan, erstwhile vice-president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), a pan-Valley traders body. Moreover, Western countries person already introduced AI strategy technologies for pruning, pollination, harvesting, infield-sorting and bagging.
How volition it interaction off-season pricing?
Nations successful the West person besides mastered galore fashionable varieties of apples specified arsenic gala apples. India introduced the gala assortment lone precise precocious and it is yet to scope its optimum accumulation prime successful presumption of colour, taste, juice, signifier arsenic good arsenic yield. Orchardists successful Kashmir fearfulness apples from the West volition participate India astatine cheaper prices and successful crook deed controlled-atmosphere acold retention prices the most. With reduced import duty, caller New Zealand apples volition participate Indian markets astatine cheaper prices, straight undercutting Indian apples stored successful acold facilities, says Izhan Javed, a elder subordinate of the J&K Fruits and Vegetables Processing and Integrated Cold Chain Association. Kashmir stores 397.08 lakh metric tonnes of apples successful 92 acold storages currently. Local orchardists successful Kashmir person invested heavy successful acold retention infrastructure. “The commercialized deals endanger to marque these investments economically unviable, endangering the full post-harvest ecosystem built with nationalist and backstage capital. The commercialized woody has the imaginable to destruct off-season terms stableness and propulsion farmers backmost into distress sales,” warns Mr. Javed.
What are J&K parties demanding?
J&K parties and traders are urging the Centre to relook the woody and guarantee safeguards for pome producers. In J&K, parties are clamouring for a associated strategy to unit the Centre to exclude apples from the deal. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) person and legislator Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra has sought an all-party gathering “to devise a corporate strategy”. “Out of 30 lakh kanals of orchard land, lone 30,000 kanals are nether high-density cultivation. There is simply a request to person interest-free loans for farmers nether Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) to vie globally,” says Mr. Parra.
The PDP besides pitched for the enlargement of acold retention and controlled-atmosphere retention infrastructure “to forestall distress sales”. It demanded the activation of adust larboard projects successful J&K for the creaseless ferrying of apples from the Valley to the markets outside.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has besides echoed these concerns. He said the commercialized woody volition “spell catastrophe for the horticulture assemblage if near unaddressed”. Mr. Abdullah says clip has travel to put successful improving productivity and prime earlier the marketplace is flooded by cheaper apples. We don’t cognize what the benefits volition beryllium successful the remainder of the country, but we are seeing a loss, Mr. Abdullah warned. He underlined that the deals person paved an “uneven playing tract for section orchardists and better-quality imports volition predominate the marketplace and the section nutrient volition get devalued”.
