Amitabh Shukla | Shimla
The humble apple is not only the
mainstay of the economy in several pockets of the upper hills but has now also
become a big election issue here in Himachal Pradesh. The Rs4,000 crore apple
business of the State is under threat from foreign imports and whoever stops
this unceremonious invasion gets the votes of the horticulturists.
All those who have a stake in the
apple business of the State-horticulturists, experts, workers, transporters,
middlemen and those in the apple mandis were eagerly waiting what BJP prime
ministerial candidate Narendra Modi says on the flooding of foreign apples in
the Indian market. He raised the issue in his speech in Solan early this week
and promised that if NDA came to power, the import duty would be raised
significantly to help protect the domestic apple growers.
Even as Modi raised the issue,
termed it as a problem and gave suggestions as to what his Government would do,
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi preferred to overlook the concerns of the
horticulturists of the State, mainly the apple growers and all those who are
involved in its trade.
In his speech in Solan two days
after that of Modi, Gandhi talked about all kinds of “Right” but not that of
the apple growers.
“We were keenly waiting for the
speeches of the two prime ministerial candidates to see what they have in their
plate for the apple growers of the State. Perhaps no one told Rahul that in
five to six Assembly segments of Shimla and a few pockets in Mandi
constituency, the apple economy decides the fate of the candidates,” said
Sunder Lal, a prominent horticulturist from Theog, the heartland of apples in Upper
Shimla .
The apple growers and all those
dependent on their livelihood on the crop, are veering towards the BJP and
Modi’s rally boosted the chances of the sitting MP from the constituency,
Virendra Kashyap. Contrarily, despite local Congress leaders listing steps which
the Virbhadra Singh Government has taken in the last 16 months for them, the
party is losing out. “We have seen a verbal commitment from Modi, there is no
such assurance from Rahul,” said, Santosh Chauhan, an apple grower from near
Narkanda.
BJP leader and former
Horticulture minister Narendra Bragta challenged the Congress to list the steps
taken, if any, for the apple farmers of the State who are facing a severe
onslaught of apples from China ,
United States
and New Zealand .
“Immediate steps are required to be taken to save the farmers,” he said.
While remunerative price has been
a long and consistent demand, horticulturists now say that the import duty
which is 49 per cent at present on apples should be raised to 150 per cent to
drive out the foreign apples from China
and USA .
“Congress in its election manifesto had promised 150 per cent import duty on
imported apples but has not taken a single step despite being in power for 16
months,” said Chetram, BJP leader who gives inputs to the party on a regular
basis on the woes of the apple growers.
Some farmers in the State had
high hopes from Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, who hails from Himachal
Pradesh. “It seems he hails from Delhi and not Himachal,” said another grower,
adding that in both the state and the Centre, there are Congress governments
but nothing was done to mitigate the woes of those involved in production and
distribution of apples.
To face the onslaught of foreign
apples, farmers also want a reduction in the commission which they have to pay
if they sell their produce through the organised mandis of the State and
elsewhere. In Delhi ’s Azadpur fruit
and vegetable market, the commission is 8 per cent, which is quite high. “The
commission agents are getting richer at the cost of the farmers. This is
happening at a time when the demand of Himachali apples is coming down and
foreign apples growing,” said Chetram.
Interestingly, the war on apples
is taking place in Himachal when Vidya Stokes is the Horticulture Minister.
Her grandfather Satyanand Stokes,
an American who converted to Hinduism, brought apple plants from USA to India
and not only settled down here but also gave tips to an entire generation on
apple cultivation. The Stokes family and apples have become synonymous in the State
as harbinger of modernity in cultivation.
Apple growers are also peeved at
the bad roads in state in upper parts. They say that while transporting bad
roads take a toll on the apples and they get damaged. The middlemen in the
mandis then reduce the prices of apples per box saying the quality is not good.
“How can you have such roads in
the hills?” asked Chauhan, a regular from Theog and Narkanda to the State
capital Shimla on NH-22.
Congress spokesperson Naresh
Chauhan does not agree with the BJP saying the State Government is proactive
and apple growers are on top of the priority list. He said Government was
giving 80 per cent subsidy to the farmers on purchase of anti hail nets and
there were several schemes for the farmers. He said cold storages were being
built to increase the shelf life of the crop. But there were few takers for the
assertions. (May 3, 2014 )
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