Jubbal, July 17: Sounding a strong warning over the proposed India-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Himachal Apple Growers' Association has alleged that the deal could deal a severe blow to the state's apple economy by allowing cheaper imported apples to flood the Indian market.
The concerns were raised at the executive meeting of the association's Jubbal block unit held on Friday under the chairmanship of its president, Sanjay Chauhan, where members from various village units discussed what they described as the deepening crisis confronting apple growers.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Chauhan said the proposed FTA poses a direct threat to the livelihood of thousands of apple-growing families in Himachal Pradesh. "If import duties on American apples and other agricultural products are removed, imported produce will become cheaper in the Indian market. Himachal's growers will be unable to get remunerative prices for their apples, pushing the state's horticulture economy into a serious crisis," he said.
The association also accused both the Centre and the state government of steadily weakening the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), which has traditionally provided support to growers during market distress.
It alleged that after the Centre withdrew budgetary support for the scheme in 2023, the state government has also begun scaling it down by introducing new conditions, reducing the number of procurement depots and limiting the availability of gunny bags, making it increasingly difficult for growers to benefit from the scheme.
The meeting also expressed alarm over the rising incidence of premature leaf fall and other diseases in apple orchards across the state.
The association alleged that the Horticulture Department and research institutions have failed to provide scientific solutions, while subsidies and government assistance to the horticulture sector have been curtailed. Growers, it said, are being forced to buy costly pesticides from the open market without adequate technical guidance, yet the problem continues to affect both production and incomes.
Chauhan said the mounting challenges facing the horticulture sector require a united response from growers. "If the government fails to address the problems of apple growers and continues with policies that are detrimental to agriculture and horticulture, orchardists will be left with no option but to launch a statewide democratic agitation to protect their livelihoods and rights," he warned.
The association announced that it will join the nationwide protest against the proposed India-US FTA on July 22, with a demonstration planned in Jubbal. It will also participate in a state-level convention in Shimla on July 25 and begin mobilising farmers for the proposed 'Jail Bharo' agitation on August 10, signalling that the protest movement is likely to intensify in the coming weeks.
