Fruit growers in Himachal Pradesh urged the state government to release He is owed Rs 24 crore for fruits purchased under the marketing intervention scheme in view of the apple season.
The state government has not yet released the payment for the fruits purchased in the last three years. In 2021 alone, government agencies – Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing and Consumers Federation Limited (HIMFED) and Horticultural Produce Marketing Corporation (HPMC) – procured around 70,000 metric tonnes of apples under the scheme. Hindustan Times report good.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday a delegation of fruit growerLed by Jubbal-Kotkhai MLA Rohit Thakur, met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and sought his intervention in the matter. saying that apple grower Contributing 13.5% to the state’s GDP, Thakur, a three-time MLA, said, “The horticulture industry is passing through a tough time due to the ever-increasing cost. I have sought the intervention of the Governor for the immediate release of the pending dues.”
Additionally, in a memorandum submitted to Arlekar, producers demanded that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on packaging materials be reduced, subsidies on pesticides and insecticides be reinstated and the price of fungicides be controlled. “The price of packaging material has increased by 40-50%. The cost of a bundle of apple packaging trays is now approx. 200. Private suppliers attribute the increase in cost to 12%-18% increase in GST. Earlier, HPMC and HIMFED used to invite tenders for the supply of cartons. However, as they have discontinued this practice, there is no control over the prices,” the memorandum said.
Notably, fruit growers demanded a complete ban on apple imports, and demanded that import duties on the fruit be raised in the meantime. “Due to 50% import duty, imported apples are flooding the Indian market, causing huge losses to apple growers. Apples from Turkey and Iran adversely affect the prices of Himachal apples in cold storage. The BJP had said that apples would be given special product status and import duty on apples would be increased, but to no avail.
It is worth noting that recently, there has been an increase of between 15-25% in per capita consumption of various fruits and vegetables in India, such as imports of fresh produce, frozen, cut and packaged products and beverages and Demand has increased. According to trade sources, keeping in mind the nutritional values of these products, the supply of these products will increase further. As a result, Indian growers are buying more planting material of fresh produce like bananas, strawberries, blueberries, citrus fruits etc. to meet the increasing demand. Investments from major corporate and large growers in hi-tech greenhouse and hydroponic projects are adding value to the horticulture industry in India in terms of commercialisation.
Indian imports have more than doubled in the past year, according to a report released by commerce and industry ministry sources and a Fresh Intelligence analysis, which noted that Apple imports more than doubled year-on-year to a record high of 436,194 tonnes. Is. , up from 215,538 tonnes in 2020, and the major exporters are Iran, Turkey, Chile, Italy, UAE, New Zealand, Brazil, Afghanistan and USA.