SRINAGAR: Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Friday urged Narendra Modi to safeguard Kashmir’s apple industry by excluding apples from the proposed Indo-US trade agreement.
Citing reports of potential zero-duty imports of American apples, she warned that such a move would undermine the Valley’s orchard-based economy, which supports more than seven lakh families dependent on apple cultivation.
She said the sector is already under pressure from low-priced Iranian apple imports routed under existing trade arrangements, which have depressed local prices and demand. Allowing subsidised American produce into Indian markets at zero duty, she argued, would place local growers at a significant disadvantage.
Mufti highlighted persistent challenges for orchardists, including climate uncertainty, infrastructure gaps, supply chain constraints and high transport costs, contrasting these with the extensive support available to American farmers.
She called on the Centre to keep apples out of the trade pact, retain at least a 50 per cent import duty, strictly enforce Minimum Import Price norms and extend targeted financial aid, affordable credit and infrastructure support to growers, warning that failure to act could push large numbers of orchard families into financial distress.
