Apple Farmers Need Protection

Although, the ongoing trade tensions between India and the United States have not hit Kashmir’s apple industry, a sector that sustains hundreds of thousands of families, it hasn’t helped it either. The import of the cheaper foreign apples including those from the US continues unabated impacting the market share of Kashmiri apple. While President Trump's tariffs on Indian goods were initially aimed at steel, aluminum, and other industrial exports, the ripple effects are now being felt in the orchards of Kulgam, Sopore, and Shopian. It is expected that the if India was forced to lower tariffs on the US fruit, cheap American apples, pouring into Indian markets, will threaten to undercut local produce at a time when costs for farmers are climbing sharply.

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Kashmir produces nearly four-fifths of India’s apples. It is more than a regional specialty, it is a backbone of our economy. Orchardists, laborers, transporters, commission agents, and market vendors all depend on this fruit trade. A dip of even a few rupees per kilo affects all of them: wages fall, debt grows, and smallholders edge closer to ruin.