CHANDIGARH: The apple growers of Himachal Pradesh, who play a key role in making an apple economy worth Rs 5,000 crore in the hill state, demanded on Saturday that India halt the import of Turkish apples and avoid further reducing the import tariff on Washington apples.Their resolve follows Turkey openly supporting Pakistan when India launched Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.Sanyukt Kisan Manch (SKM), Himachal Pradesh, convener Harish Chauhan, said that they will meet Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on May 20 and hand him a memorandum for PM Narendra Modi demanding a pause on the import of Turkish apples. He stated that the import of apples from Iran should also be stopped. Besides, the import tariff on Washington apples should not be further reduced, and the Minimum Import Price (IMP) on apples should be Rs 100 per kilogram. Last year, the Centre announced that it would levy Rs 50 per kg IMP on the import of apples from abroad, but that was not implemented. “The apple season will start in mid-July, and this year, the apple crop is expected to be the same as last year’s (2.18 crore boxes). Import of apples from Turkey and Iran impacts our apple growers, as a kg of the fruit from Turkey and Iran costs between Rs 60 and Rs 65, and Rs 40 per kg, respectively. Our cost of production is approximately Rs 40 per kg. We sell our best apple in the running market for approximately Rs 50-Rs 60 per kg,’’ he said.Chauhan further said that 1.10 million metric tons of apples were imported from Turkey in 2022, which rose to 1.29 million metric tons in 2023. However, Turkey’s imports fell to only 1.11 million metric tons last year.
Source link
