Bumper crop, low rate, curbs on trucks compound Valley apple growers’ woes

The Valley’s Rs 10,000-crore apply industry gives direct and indirect livelihood to around 3.5-million people. Kashmir on a average harvests 1.5-1.8 million metric tonnes of apple yearly, which is more than 75 per cent of India’s total production. This year, the crop has been good and the production is being pegged at 2.1 million metric tonnes, leading to glut in the market and less than normal price.

“Our fruit is rotting inside trucks stranded on the highway,” said Fayaz Ahmad Malik, president of Sopore Fruit Mandi, the largest fruit mandi of Jammu and Kashmir. “About 8,000-10,000 fruit-laden trucks are unnecessarily stopped on the highway for days. Trucks are released simultaneously, leading to glut in the market, bringing down the rate further,” he said.

However, a press release from the traffic police stated that apple trucks are given priority at the Quazigund barrier. “No truck carrying apple is stopped there for more than two days contrary to the false propaganda being spread,” it said, while warning of strict action against those who are spreading misinformation.

Fruit growers say they have been meeting officials with requests to streamline road traffic, but to no avail. “The Financial Commissioner Agriculture and Additional Chief Secretary recently issued directions for smooth movement of fruit trucks. He told the Traffic Department that the fruit is the outcome of an entire year’s hard work of the growers and it shouldn’t be stopped but nobody is listening,” Malik said, adding, “we wanted to meet the LG (Manoj Sinha) now but he is not around”.

On September 19, after protests from the growers, IGP (Traffic) Vikramjit Singh directed the SSPs to ensure hassle-free movement of fruit-laden trucks but growers say nothing happened.

“Nobody is trying to understand the dynamics of this road [NH 24]. The capacity of this road is 2,000-2,500 trucks a day. We can at most stretch it to 3,000-3,500,” said SSP (Traffic) Ramban Shabir Malik. “They (fruit growers) are putting pressure on us through the media and the government. On Sunday, we let 4,600 trucks move out of the Valley and 1,500 of them are still on the road. This is a two-lane road and it has affected the entire traffic on the highway. If it continues like this, the entire system will collapse in a week,” he said.

SSP Malik said they have to maintain the balance between inflow and outflow of traffic. “We can’t stop the down traffic (from Jammu to Srinagar) as there are trucks carrying milk, sheep, oil, etc. If I do that, it will lead to shortage of essentials in the Valley and also of trucks that carry fruit on their way back,” he reasoned.

The “illegal import” of Iranian apple is another reason that growers cite for the low price. Fruit growers allege that the Iranian apple enters India wihtout import duty as it is disguised as fruit from Afghanistan under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement.

“Until a year ago, we used to sell a box of apple for anywhere between Rs 1,200-1,300. This year, it fetches us only Rs 600-700. Each box costs [labour, packing, transporation, etc.] a grower around Rs 600. We are running in losses,” said Malik.