Indian Apple Farmers Worried Over Livelihood As India-US Seal Trade Deal

Srinagar: Worries are mounting among farmers in the Himalayan states as they fear the prospect of imported fruit from the United States as part of the India-US Interim Trade framework will economically devastate their livelihood.

Harish Chauhan, Convener of Samyukt Kisan Manch, a grouping of over two dozen farmers' associations, said that this will serve as the third blow to the apple economy in the country.

The Himachal Pradesh-based farmers leader was alluding to India's trade deal with New Zealand, followed by Europe, which is being described as a 'mother of all deals', that can beset the farmers once import duties are reduced. Under free trade agreements, India reduced import duty on apples and other fruits from New Zealand and the European Union to 20% from 50%.

"Apple is on top of fruit, and the government clearly says that the import duty will be reduced to 25 per cent. Minimum Import Price (MIP) has been set at Rs 80 per kilogram, and it will be the base rate. Therefore, it will crash the apple economy as we cannot compete with farmers from the US or New Zealand. It will make the imported apple cheaper in Indian markets by Rs 15-20 per kilogram in the three trade deals," Chauhan told ETV Bharat.

Comparatively, Indian farmers get a subsidy of $290, while American farmers are offered anything above Rs 65 lakh to 1.5 crore, he added.

"The existing duties levied on an apple box (20 kilograms) from the US costs between Rs 2500 and Rs 2700 in Indian markets. But it will sell at half the price once landing and import costs are removed. This will hurt our premium apples as their rates will be drastically cut. In the domestic market, our apples will become cheaper to facilitate US produce," Chauhan added.

India produces 2.5 MT of apples, or 2 per cent of the global production. Of this, Kashmir produces 75 per cent of the total yield, generating an annual revenue of over Rs 12,000 crore. Apple cultivation accounts for over 2 lakh hectares, with J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakh­and being the chief apple-producing states. But, growers and trade unions project a 50 per cent drop in prices with New Delhi's recent trade deals.

In Jammu and Kashmir, which is the chief producer of apples, the sector sustains over seven lakh families directly or indirectly. Mohammad Abbas is worried after he comes across the bare details of the India-US trade deal, affecting short-term farmers like him. The 35-year-old third-generation apple grower from Shopian owns 20 kanals of orchards that are already in debt after losing the produce to floods last year.

"But it will further push farmers like me into financial distress," he told ETV Bharat. "We are already under distress battling the impact of climate change, like flash floods, reduced snowfall, rains, low output, etc. These conditions have given birth to new diseases, and they require pesticides and insecticides, which come at a cost. These sprays have affected our health, and now we will have to suffer economically as well."

His home district is one among the apple-producing belts where the toxicity of these sprays was found, leading to a rise in malignant brain tumours. The 2010 study on the danger of pesticides in Kashmir's orchards by Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences had found a strong possible link between chemical exposure and brain cancer among the farmers.

On Friday, India and the US announced a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The joint statement said that the framework reaffirms the countries' commitment to the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.

India, according to the statement, will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits and additional products.

On Saturday, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the India-US Interim Trade framework expands export opportunities without making any concessions on dairy or other sensitive domestic produce, opening up access to a nearly 30 trillion US dollar economy for Indian exporters under most preferred duty terms. He said that they have fully safeguarded the interests of Indian farmers.

But from Himachal Pradesh to Kashmir, however, the assurance has not addressed the fears of farmers as they apprehend it will hit their livelihood by 50 per cent once the imported apples start flooding Indian markets.

"The US apples might not be nutritious compared to our varieties. But they are polished and red in colour. This makes them more attractive to customers," said a farmer.

In Kashmir, growers wrote a letter addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking 100 per cent duty on imported apples to protect farmers.

"Every year, new challenges emerge for the Apple industry of the Valley, Himachal and Uttarakhand. Sometimes Apples are imported from Iran and sometimes from the United States and other countries as well," wrote Bashir Ahmad Bashir, president of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union. which is an Umbrella Body of all Fruit Growers Associations.

"These steps constantly put pressure on our local Apple Industry. The cumulative impact of such imports has been damaging local apple growers, particularly small and marginal growers who are already struggling with input costs, erratic weather, pest attacks and transport issues. The reduction in customs duty on American and European apples will make imported apples cheaper, and a trader naturally prefers them over Kashmiri apples and hence directly affects the pricing of apples of Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand."

Noting New Delhi's free trade agreement with New Zealand reduced import duty from 50% to 25%, the association warned that the horticulture sector will turn into a 'sick industry' if 100 per cent import duties are not imposed on imported apples.

Former president of Jammu and Kashmir Fruits and Vegetables Processing and Integrated Cold Chain Association (JKPICCA), Majid Wafai, who, alongside his counterparts, met Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in December, is surprised that the deal went through despite the assurance from the minister.

"Three hill states gave a joint representation to the minister, and his team listened to us patiently, followed by an assurance. But the deal is going to hurt our economy by reducing the price of imported fruit," he added.