Mehbooba Mufti Seeks 50% Import Duty On Apples To Protect Kashmir’s Horticulture

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revisit the interim Indo-US trade agreement, warning that Jammu and Kashmir’s apple growers face serious losses unless protective import duties are introduced to safeguard the valley’s horticulture industry.

Mufti urged the Centre to impose a 50 per cent import duty on apples, stressing that the deal strips away safeguards farmers once relied on. She argued that the horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir is not just an economic activity but the very foundation of livelihoods, education, and youth employment in the valley.

She warned that the entry of subsidised US apples would devastate local growers already struggling with high transportation costs, minimal subsidies, and self-funded fertilisers.

“First Iranian apples disrupted our markets; now American imports will crush us further. Their farmers receive subsidies of USD 30,000–40,000, while ours barely survive,” she said.

PDP president cautioned that the fallout would not remain confined to economics. Rising unemployment, she added, could fuel drug addiction and social instability in an area already sensitive to political and social upheaval.

“If our backbone, the fruit industry, is attacked, the consequences will be dire,” she asserted.

Mufti reminded the government that after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the people of Jammu and Kashmir endured hardships with restraint.

“Now, if livelihoods, education, and employment are taken away, where will our youth go?” she asked, appealing directly to PM Modi to reconsider the agreement.

She further pressed for crop insurance schemes, expansion of Controlled Atmosphere storage facilities, and urgent attention to the national highway that frequently closes, disrupting fruit transportation.

“The farmers of our country had certain protections before this deal, but now those safeguards are gone. The impact will be felt nationwide, but Jammu and Kashmir’s apple and dry fruit growers will suffer the most,” she told reporters at party headquarters in Srinagar.

Pertinently, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said that the India-US trade agreement would adversely affect Jammu and Kashmir, as goods produced in the territory would now enter India without any duty.

He added that while the deal might bring advantages to other parts of the country, its immediate impact on Jammu and Kashmir appears to be one of economic loss.