The Centre’s decision has also not gone well with the CPI(M) in the state. The party’s Central Committee member and former legislator M.Y. Tarigami took it to Twitter and claimed it was in contrast to the popular demand of hiking the duty on such imports.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The recent decision by the Centre to remove the 20 per cent retaliatory import duty on American apples has rattled growers and fruit dealers in Kashmir.
Due to hail storms and unexpected weather conditions, including unseasonal rain this year, the Kashmiri horticulture industry in the valley is already under a lot of stress, media reports quoted Bashir Ahmad, president of the Fruit Growers and Dealers Association of Kashmir, as saying.
The Centre’s decision will add to the difficulties of the growers and it have an adverse impact on the horticulture industry, he said.
“Now, if we won’t get adequate rates, it will be very unfortunate. Though the production of apples is quite high, a decline in rates will increase our difficulties tremendously. We request the government to immediately roll back the waiver,” Ahmad said.
The roll-back would also immensely benefit apple farmers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Similarly, Shahid Chowdhury of the New Kashmir Fruit Association said the waiver will substantially bring down the prices of Kashmir apples.
He said there is always a strong rate of competition between Kashmiri apples and those grown abroad. “Foreign countries are quite advanced. The farmers there get subsidies, and technologies and there are a number of schemes that make their products superior in quality. If taxes are lowered, growers of Kashmir and apples of Kashmir would not be able to compete with them,” Chowdhury said.
Agreeing with Chowdhury, Kashmiri apple grower Farooq Ahmad Rather said in 2017, the Center raised the duty of the apple from the United States from 50 per cent to 70 per cent. “It is unfortunate, he said, that Washington Apple’s duty is reduced by 20 per cent. It will adversely affect the local produce.”
He said the Centre has taken a wrong decision and it should review its stand.
Fruit seller Mehraj Ahmad said the Kashmiri apples are famous all over India. “We don’t want our apple demand to be reduced. We want our apple industry to grow,” he was quoted as saying.
The Centre’s decision has also not gone well with the CPI(M) in the state. The party’s Central Committee member and former legislator M.Y. Tarigami took it to Twitter and claimed it was in contrast to the popular demand of hiking the duty on such imports. “The decision should be rolled back forthwith,” he said.
