Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 4: Former minister and senior vice president of Peoples Conference Abdul Gani Vakil today asked the Government to impose a blanket ban on Iranian apples as it has ruined the market of homegrown Kashmiri apples.
Vakil in a statement issued here said that the import of Iranian apples has flooded into the market and raised concerns among the apple growers of Jammu and Kashmir. He demanded immediate ban on import of Iranian apple as fruit industry had already been in trouble and in loss due to COVID- 19, natural calamities, blockade of national highway on several occasions and due to turmoil in Valley.
“If Government of India does not ban import of Iranian apple, the industry will collapse and fruit growers will suffer. Fruit industry is providing livelihood to thousands of people, their livelihood will be affected,” Vakil added.
While expressing his anguish over the import of Iranian apples from Afghanistan to various fruit markets in the country, he said that such attempts are aimed to discourage fruit growers and amounts to depriving thousands of people from their livelihood in Kashmir valley.
“It seems Govt is preferring foreign apples over Kashmiri apples. Even at the present, the valley is facing a shortage of cold stores where fruit growers could have stored their produce,” he said.
“It becomes an obligation for the government to come to the support of the fruit industry as they form the backbone of our economy and have always been suffering on account of lockdowns, strikes, weather vagaries and fluid political situation in the valley,” Vakil added.
Abdul Gani reiterated his demand of waiving of KCC loans of fruit growers as most of the growers are struggling to pay their taxes and loans. The fruit industry, which was once the backbone of J&K’s economy, is now at the verge of extinction,” he added.
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