Low quality cheap imported Iranian and Turkey Apples Wreak Havoc on Himachal's Apple Industry, Farmers in Deep Crisis... 

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh's apple growers are staring at a grim future as cheap, low-quality imported apples mainly from Iran and Turkey are flooding  Indian markets, pushing local farmers to the brink of collapse. 

The prices have dipped sharply by over 30 to 40 percent  over the last two weeks in domestic markets.

The private players like Adani, Reliance, Dev Bhoomi and others have not announced the prices this year  till September 5 even as the apple season has peaked.   

In a ploy Adani on September 7 announced prices at a low rate of Rs 80 per kg  as the company shrewdly waited for the prices to be  dropped in open markets, which have raised the ire of farmers. 

Under the banner of the Progressive Growers Association (PGA), apple farmers have written to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, demanding immediate intervention and a revamp of import duties to protect the domestic apple industry.

Lokinder Bisht, President of PGA, minced no words, “We are facing a double blow—severe weather conditions have already reduced our crop, and now, these cheap imports are undercutting our prices.”

The farmers are specifically demanding a shift from the current ad valorem duty structure to a fixed import duty, which they believe will help curb the dumping of apples from countries like Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, China, UAE etc.

Currently, the Minimum Import Price (MIP) for apples is set at ₹50 per kilogram—a figure set back in 2022—which has now become laughably low in the face of these dumped imports.

Both Iran and Turkey apples are kept low priced and account for 28 per cent and 24 per cent of imports that has become a major worry for the apple industry of India. 

Because Iran has an overproduction of apple this year, the importers are getting the apple at much cheaper rates averaging Rs 600 to Rs 700 per crate from havala channels to make money, sources said. 

The domestic buyers in domestic markets are buying Himachal's top quality apple of long shelf life  at an average price of Rs 50 per kg and these apples are stored in CAS to be sold in lean period in January to May in markets almost more than double. 

"The cost of growing apples in Himachal, given the rise in fertiliser, labour, and transportation costs, is around ₹90-95 per kilogram. We can’t compete with these apples being sold well below that,” Bisht pointed out.

The flood of apples from Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan, many of them coming through Hawala channels via Nepal from China, is being blamed for the crisis. The imported apples was valued at Rs 1901 Crore in 2022-23.   

China remains the lead produce of apple in the world accounting for 49 per cent of production, followed by the Turkey (5.03 %), USA (4.45%) while India stands at 6th place producing just 2.7 per cent of world's production.  

Domestic apple prices have dipped by over 30 to 40 per cent just due to game stagemanaged by the greedy importers to make money from the low quality cheap imports.  

Not only are these imports priced unfairly low, but they also bring a dark side—drug trafficking.

Recently, Indian law enforcement seized large quantities of cocaine hidden within apple consignments via from South Africa  and other countries.

"These illegal imports aren’t just killing our livelihoods, they’re also a serious threat to national security," Bisht added.

Data from the National Horticulture Board paints an alarming picture. Apple production  has declined from 2891 thousand MT 2010 to 2437 thousands MT in 2021-22 in India. 

Himachal’s contribution to India's overall apple production has dropped from 31% to 26.4% during the same period. Jammu and Kashmir accounts for over 70 per cent of apple production in India. 

Meanwhile, imports from Iran and UAE, which produce no apples,   alone now account for 33% of all apple imports, with these apples being sold at rock-bottom prices.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Iranian apples enter India duty-free under SAFTA agreements via Afghanistan, exploiting loopholes to avoid duties.

This is daylight robbery! These countries are dumping cheap apples, bypassing import duties, and we are left to bear the brunt, the farmers said.

The PGA is demanding that the government hike the MIP to at least ₹90 per kilogram and switch to a fixed duty structure to prevent importers from under-declaring the value of their shipments.

The ripple effect of this crisis is being felt across the state—truckers, labourers, vendors, and apple processors are all on edge.

The Apple season is in full swing, but demand for local produce is taking a massive hit due to these unfair imports.

"We’re not just losing money; thousands of livelihoods are on the line," Bisht stressed.

Apple growers are now calling for stringent quality checks on all imported consignments through designated labs and urgent discussions with the ministry to resolve the crisis before it's too late.

"We deliver high-quality apples to the market, but this flooding of inferior imports is a death sentence for us," said Bisht, summing up the urgency of the situation.

Without immediate intervention, Himachal’s apple industry—once the pride of the state—could be headed for disaster.