Apple growers in India fear the sale of Iranian apples in local markets, bypassing import duty, will have a huge impact on indigenous apples. And to discuss this problem, representatives of various fruit growers associations of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and Himachal held a meeting earlier last month in Srinagar, J&K. 

The main objective of the meeting was to prevent the import of Iranian apples via Afghanistan. These imported apples reach the country via Afghanistan. Both Afghanistan and India are members of the South Asian Free Trade Zone (SAFTA) and hence they do not impose duty on imports from each other. However, Iran is not part of SAFTA but apples from there reach India via Afghanistan, bypassing import duties and cess, complain Indian farmers. 

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“Afghanistan imposes no duty on import of apples by India, because both are members of the South Asian Free Trade Zone. Iran is not. So, the apples are being routed through Afghanistan and reach India through the Attari border via Pakistan,” Kushal Bharadwaj, chairperson of the Himachal Kisan Sabha, explained. 

Bashir Ahmed Bashir, chairperson of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Dealers Union, claimed the regular arrival of apples from Iran via Afghanistan would have a huge impact on the prices of indigenous apples. He clarified that Indian apple farmers had no problem with the import of Iranian apples, but with the tax evasion.

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Bharadwaj alleged that around Rs 800,000 of import duty is evaded on each container, and that this makes the Iranian apples less expensive than locally-grown apples.

“We have issues with the infiltration of Iranian apples,” said Mohammad Ashraf, an apple farmer from Shopian, J&K. “Had these apples come directly from Iran, they would have borne a fifteen per cent excise duty and thirty five per cent cess,” he told Gaon Connection.

The farmers also oppose the sale of this apple at the main Azadpur fruit mandi in Delhi. Imported fruits should ideally be sold in the new mandi. “Traders are taking a receipt from the new mandi but are selling it in the main market, which is a violation,” Ashraf alleged.

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While some insist the apples being sold at the mandi are not from Iran, 55-year-old farmer Mohammed Altaf from Shopian argued the apple currently sold at the mandi is indeed from Iran. “Apple picking in Afghanistan happens between September and October, and only two per cent of its apples are export worthy. It is unlikely that apples from Afghanistan are being sold from February in Indian markets,” he told Gaon Connection.

Horticulture has a vital role to play in the economy of J&K. In 2019, Kashmir produced about 1.9 million metric tonnes of apples, the highest in the country.

Apple cultivation directly and indirectly provides livelihood to more than 3.3 million people in J&K. In such a situation, the recent trend of sale of Iranian apples that have flouted import norms in Indian markets can be a major problem.  

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Appeal to the Union and Delhi governments

Bashir said he had written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in January this year and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in February this year over the issue of Iranian apples. The Kejriwal government has said this is an issue for the Centre to take a call on, and there has been no reply from the Centre, Bashir said.

The import of Iranian apples has stopped for now, said apple farmers, but they fear the issue will resurface annually, unless action is taken.

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Demand for MSP for apples

Last month, apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh took out a protest march in Shimla, the state capital, demanding MSP (minimum support price) for apples. The march was led by the Himachal Kisan Sabha.

“In the past few years, the cost of apple cultivation has increased considerably, leading to zero profit. Fertiliser and fuel prices have gone up and the farmer has to spend a lot of money to spray his farm and load harvested fruit,” Omkar Singh, secretary of the Sabha and apple farmer in Kullu, told Gaon Connection.

If this continues, he said, cartons currently available for Rs 40 or Rs 60 will go up to Rs 100. Labour charges too have almost doubled, to about Rs 500 or Rs 600 a day. “We have sent a memorandum to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on all these problems and have demanded that apples be brought under MSP,” Singh said.

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Read the story in Hindi here.