Center government is ruining Himachal’s apple orchardists: Bhandari
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Nigam Bhandari, the president of Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress, has said that the central government’s continuous reduction in import duties is ruining the apple orchardists of Himachal Pradesh. He said that due to the reduction in import duties, the import of foreign apples is increasing, which has put the existence of Himachali apples in jeopardy. He said that the apple economy in Himachal Pradesh is worth more than 5000 crores economically, and millions of families are directly and indirectly connected to this business. Farmers are demanding to increase the import duty by 100 percent, but the central government is continuously reducing it, which is unfortunate.
The Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress said that due to cheap foreign apples, even the orchardists using cold storage are suffering losses. They said that due to foreign apples, the orchardists using cold storage have incurred losses of Rs 800-1200 per box. They said that the import of apples is increasing from countries like America, Iran, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil. Due to being a South Asian Free Trade Area, Iranian apples are reaching India without any duty through Afghanistan. In such a situation, Himachali apples are not able to sustain and cannot get good prices. If the central government does not pay attention to this, then the apple economy of Himachal will be completely destroyed, and millions of people associated with this business will be ruined.
Nigam Bhandari said that during the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to increase the import duty on foreign apples and to mix 5 percent of apple concentrate in all types of cold drinks. However, the central government has reduced the import duty on foreign apples, which is reducing the demand for Himachali apples and causing losses to the orchardists. He said that on one hand, the Prime Minister talks about ‘vocal for local’, while on the other hand, it is not being implemented on the ground, instead, foreign apples are being promoted, which is breaking the backbone of Himachal’s apple orchardists. Bhandari said that in Himachal Pradesh, more than 5 lakh orchardists are directly involved in apple cultivation, and the state’s apple production of nearly 4 crore boxes annually amounts to a business of around 5000 crores. In such a situation, reducing the import duty on apples is not in the interest of these five lakh families of Himachal Pradesh.
