Iranian apple import is hurting our interests: Growers
Stage protest, demand end to Iranian import
Pulwama: The continuous import of huge quantity of Iranian apple has left devastating effect on the Kashmir apple industry as the rates of Kashmiri apples have declined by over 50 percent now, various growers have alleged.
Growers from different areas of Kashmir said that apple industry which is known as backbone of Kashmir’s economy is crumbling as rates have never been so low as they are at present.
They said that rates started declining since ending November last year and now there is no demand of Kashmiri apples.
“The apples from Kashmir are not even fetching 50 percent of what they used to fetch us at this time of the year. Even the rates are nowhere near the price that we got in October-November last year,” Mohammad Munawar, a grower said.
Abbas Ahmad, another fruit grower from south Kashmir said that he is yet to send his 400 apple boxes as he was waiting for rates to increase more but instead of any increase the rates are declining fast, he said.
Meanwhile, Jablipora terminal market association on Monday staged a protest and demanded that apple import from Iran must be stopped at an earliest otherwise the apple industry will collapse.
They said that around 3 crore apple boxes are lying here in Kashmir at various cold storage units and if government won’t interfere this industry would be badly hit.
They said that the rates of Kashmiri apples have declined by 50 percent and there is no demand of Kashmiri apples now as apples from Iran are reaching India at cheaper rates.
The growers said that on one hand government is claiming that they are developing horticulture sector but on the other hand they aren’t interfering to stop apple import from Iran.
The growers requested Lt Guv Manoj Sinha to personally look into the matter and save this industry from a certain collapse.
Jahangeer Ganaie
