Srinagar, Dec 31, KDC: The Hill States Horticulture Forum (HSHF) has flagged ongoing and proposed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as a major threat to India’s apple growers, warning that tariff concessions on imports could destabilise the Himalayan horticulture economy.
A high-level delegation led by Harish Chouhan, and comprising Maajid A. Wafai, Majid A. Wafai, Bashir Ahmad Naik, Izhan Javeed, Irshad A. Bhat, and Sunil Aggarwal, met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at his residence to register the concerns of apple growers from Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The delegation emphasized that apple cultivation is the economic backbone of hill states, sustaining lakhs of farming families and allied sectors including labour, transport, packaging, cold storage, and local trade. They expressed apprehension over recent trade negotiations with New Zealand, the EU, the US, Chile, and other markets, which may result in reduced import duties, even if routed through tariff-rate quotas.
Grower representatives warned that any dilution of the existing 50% customs duty would place Indian producers at a severe disadvantage against imported apples that benefit from foreign state subsidies, export incentives, and advanced mechanization.
“The proposal to allow apple imports starting from March will severely damage the cold-store infrastructure built across hill states,” the Forum said, noting that the entire post-harvest ecosystem has been developed at enormous public and private cost over decades, supported by central and state incentives.
The Forum cautioned that imports at the start of India’s marketing season could depress domestic prices, damage cold-store viability, and disrupt every vertical of the apple economy — impacting storage operators, transporters, packers, commission agents, and thousands of orchard-dependent households across the Himalayan belt.
Calling the apple sector more than agriculture, the Forum said it supports packing units, truck fleets, storage chains, and seasonal employment for lakhs of rural workers, making it highly sensitive to market shocks and policy-induced price crashes.
The delegation placed five key demands before the Centre, seeking an immediate review of the proposed reduction in apple import duty under the FTA quota framework, stressing that any tariff concession could hurt domestic price competitiveness. The Forum also called for a comprehensive socio-economic impact assessment of existing as well as proposed FTAs, arguing that trade decisions must account for the scale of livelihoods dependent on the apple economy. Grower representatives urged the government to put in place stronger safeguard mechanisms to prevent market flooding and price collapse, warning that unregulated import pressure during the marketing season could destabilise the sector. The Forum further demanded direct and mandatory engagement with farmers at every stage of trade negotiations, asserting that grower voices are essential to shaping hill-state trade policy. Additionally, the delegation sought revision of the reference price used for customs valuation of imported apples from the current ₹50 to ₹90, stating that a realistic assessing value is necessary to prevent under-invoicing and protect domestic markets from unfair import practices.
The Forum said the meeting concluded on a positive note, with the Union Agriculture Minister listening patiently to all concerns and assuring that “India’s farmers’ interests will never be compromised under any circumstances.”
The delegation expressed satisfaction over the assurance, saying the Minister’s commitment to protecting the horticulture economy has restored policy confidence among growers. (KDC)
