SAVE APPLE, SAVE KASHMIR | Apple Farmers’ Federation of India demands CA storage, ban on apple import

Shopian: On Wednesday morning, apple farmers from various apple rich villages of south Kashmir made a beeline for Fruit Mandi Pulwama to participate in a day-long apple conference organised by the Apple Farmers’ Federation of India (AFFI).

The rallying cry of the AFFI – ‘Save Apple, Save Kashmir’ has been eliciting an overwhelming response from the apple cultivators across the apple-producing areas of Kashmir since the newly formed organisation held its first national apple conference in Shopian last month.

On August 5, a delegation of AFFI called on Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed with him the ways and possibilities of marketing the apple from Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in Kerala, given the state’s robust cooperative society system.

Addressing the conference, senior CPI (M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigmi said that the apple growers were facing a flurry of problems owing to the wrong policies pursued by the government over the years.

“The apple growers and small traders are in deep distress. They are unable to even recoup the input costs,” said Tarigami.

He listed out a host of reasons responsible for the plight of apple cultivators.

“The frequent disruptions in the seamless movement of traffic along the National Highway; spurious pesticides and fertilizers; lack of adequate infrastructure, inter alia, are responsible for the farmers’ distress,” Tarigami said.

He said that the government must put restrictions on the import of apples from the US and other countries to benefit the domestic growers.

“Last year, we saw the government import apples from other countries which significantly affected the prices of our harvest,” Tarigami said.

Flagging up the demand for Controlled Atmosphere Storages (CA), Tarigami said that the inadequate number of cold storages spurred small farmers to sell their produce for a song, as they could not wait for the prices to improve in outstation mandis in absence of adequate cold storage facilities.

“There are no government-run CA storages. The government should set up such facilities in each district," he said.

Tarigami also sought the introduction of market intervention schemes for the farmers.

Demanding the waiving of farm loans, he said that the government should give a one time loan waiver to the farmers of J&K who are cultivating different crops.

“When the government has written off the loans of big corporate houses, why should it not free the poor farmers of their farm debts?” Tarigami asked.

He also batted for the rolling out of crop insurance schemes.

However, Tarigami said that the government itself should regulate these schemes.

Senior Kissan leader Zahoor Ahmad Rather, who inaugurated the conference, expressed serious concern over the plight of farmers.

Rather said that the government had neglected the apple growers.

He demanded the government to re-introduce the market intervention scheme.

“The market intervention scheme rolled out by the government has been halted. There is a pressing need for such schemes so that the farmers can sell their produce at good prices,” he said.

During the conference, the speakers also demanded proper irrigation and other facilities for the almond farms in the area.

President Fruit Mandi Pulwama Javid Ahmad Bhat, President Kisan Tehreek Ghulam Muhammad Shah, Kissan leaders Muhammad Ashraf Shah, Muhammad Ayoub Ashmandri, and Abdul Rasheed Pandit also spoke on the occasion.