Shiv Kumar Padha
The approval of the central cabinet to procure 12 lakh tone of J&K apples for the current 2020-21season has been widely hailed and appreciated among the apple and dry fruit growers in both the UTs. According to the approval National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) has been allowed to use the Government guarantee of Rs. 2500 crore for this operation. The decision will ensure employment generation and overall enhancement of income of the apple growers. A similar worth crores of rupees project for the marketing, storing and development of Saffron, walnut and other costly produces of Kashmir has been sanctioned by the cabinet which will in turn encourage the growers to produce more. But unless the efforts to improve the crop of apples, walnuts and other fruit, grown in Jammu region, are not made we can not deliver justice to all the fruit growers in the J&K UT.
Entire Jammu & Kashmir state and Ladakh UT abounds in natural beauty and has the potential of producing variety of fruit and the handicraft in the world. While Ladakh UT is known for its unique geographical characteristics, topography and the world famous dry fruit, Jammu and Kashmir UTis known for the seasonal fruits like apples, baggu gosha, cherry, khobani, peaches and saffron etc.
So far as the production of the seasonal fruit like apple and gosha etc. is concerned Bani area is in no way behind its counterpart Kashmir .Both Kashmir and Bani apples are known for their crispiness’ and sweetness with the difference that the Kashmir apple looks lustrous, shining, healthy and are marketed in standard packing which fetches good return for apple growers, whereas Bani produce of the apples looks very rough ugly spotted and full of scars because they suffer from many diseases like canker which is transmitted through the bark of the tree and cause sunscald or fire blight infection ,fruit spots and rots where fungi cause superficial spots or specks on fruit surface ,chlorosis a common disorder of apples leave the leaves yellow and small. No doubt these diseases do not affect the eating quality of the fruit they are not presentable before the customers in the market. It seems very humorous that on the one hand State Government is vociferously clamouring to boost the fruit specially the apple industry in the state and on the other, it is totally neglecting the quality improvement of Bani area apples. Does it mean that the popular state government is committed and serious about the development of apple orchards of Kashmir only? It is very strange that there is no such agency in Bani area which can educate the apple growers about the common diseases of the apples, their treatment and use of proper and timely use of pesticides. In the absence of guidance and expert assistance from the Horticulture Department the apple crop of Bani is completely left at the mercy of god from blossoming to the fruit bearing stage. During the development of the fruit on the tree no care is taken of the fruit and the tree .This crop is reared like the crop of maize, wheat and other cereals .The apple growers of Bani area are totally ignorant about the common and special kind of diseases which destroy the apple crop on the tree. Due to the lack of knowledge about the common disease of the apple crop and their treatment, the growers take their yield wrapped in gunny bags to the nearby markets of Basohli, Mahanpur and Billawer where their produce of apples is sold at throw away price rendering heavy loses to the apple growers. It will be worth mentioning here that these trees have been brought by some enthusiastic persons of Bani area from Himachal Pradesh and were planted about 20 years ago. Since then neither any Government agency did take interest in apple crop of Bani nor new trees of superior quality apples have been planted in the area with the result that the orchard owners are still harbouring upon the old techniques of nurturing the apple crop in the area.
On the contrary, the apple industry of Kashmir gets VIP treatment in the hands of Jammu and Kashmir Government where agriculture, horticulture and pesticide departments are inducted in the apple industry of Kashmir on war footing in order to bring Kashmir apples on international standard .The Government advances loans to the apple growers for standardized packing ,arranges for the transport of apples to the remotest markets of the country and that of the world, provides insurance facility for the apple orchards The whole apple season of Kashmir is monitored strictly in terms of transportation of the produce and its marketing.
It is encouraging that in spite of discrimination of apple crop of Bani by the concerned departments of the UT it is still competing with the apple industry of Kashmir and that of Himachal Pradesh. The farmers and owners of apple orchards of Bani are hard working and intelligent, a small assistance by the horticulture department of the state can result into the flourishing and excellent quality of the apples in the state. It is therefore emphasized upon the UT Government to :
* Take along all the segments of the state together in the matter of progress and development.
* Pay attention to the apple crop in the Jammu segment in general and Bani area in particular. Appoint an expert team to look into the development of apples, provide assistance in the treatment of disease of the apple crop and suggest curative measures in order to get good quality apples.
* Appoint team of experts and scientists and establish a research laboratory in Bani area to develop new species of apples and monitor the growth of apples from blooming stage to the harvesting.
* Help provide cheap loans to the apple growers of Bani in order to enable them purchase medicines and pesticides for the protection of their crop.
* Provide them with sophisticated type of packing devices and market for selling their produce easily and with dignity.
* Special economical packages and funds aimed at the development of the various kinds of orchards in the state be made available to the farmers of Bani area so that they can start their vocation afresh and become economically self sufficient.
It is high time and also the demand of the hour to consider the problems of the apple growers of Bani area seriously and devise some means and strategy so that the apples of Bani and that of the valley can attract a good number of customers in the national and international markets.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com

Bharat Jhunjhunwala
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has enumerated a number of positive signs in the economy seen in September 2020 and expressed hope that the GDP growth rate will pick up in the next fiscal 2021-22. He has pointed out that agricultural production is at record levels; a 15 percent increase in freight hauled by the railways is seen; India has emerged as a global supplier of Personal Protective Equipment, pharmaceuticals and ventilators; India has seen a 13 percent increase in inward Foreign Direct Investment in April-August which is highest ever. However, other disturbing indicators are emerging at the same time. Only three months ago a number of global agencies had forecast a 5 percent decline in India’s GDP in the current year. Today they have forecast a 10 percent contraction. GDP per capita or income per person is a better indicator of the state of a country’s economy because while GDP is a measure of the total income of a country, GDP per capita is a measure of the income of a citizen of the country. The International Monetary Fund has assessed that India’s GDP is likely to be US Dollars 1877 per capita against Bangladesh at US dollars 1888 per capita. We have slipped behind Bangladesh. Global rating agency Moody’s has downgraded India’s sovereign rating to Baa3 which is the lowest investment grade rating. A further downgrade would make it difficult for the Government of India as well as Indian companies to access foreign funds. Our manufactured exports are slipping. Our exports of iron ore increase by 63 percent and of rice increased by 33 percent between June 2019 and June 2020. However, our key manufactured exports of Jewelry declined by 50 percent, leather products by 40 percent and textiles 35 percent. India stands at the 94th rank in the World Hunger Index which is lower than Bangladesh at 75th, Myanmar at 78th, Pakistan at 88th rank. Our performance in containing Covid is also dismal. As of 29.10.2020, we have had 87 deaths per million population against 1 for Sri Lanka, 22 for Myanmar, 26 for Bangladesh, 30 for Pakistan and 31 for Nepal. These negative indicators give us a reason to reexamine the way forward.
We have before us two paths here onwards. Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan has warned that India should not adopt the path of protecting domestic industries by raising import duties as has been done recently for some products. Protectionism means that we increase the import duties collected on foreign goods entering India so that the price of imported goods increases; and the price of domestic production becomes less in comparison; leading to sale of the latter. He has warned that we had followed the same protectionist policy before the economic reforms of 1991 with disastrous results. A license permit raj was prevalent that enabled selected big domestic companies to extract monopolistic profits and the politician-bureaucratic alliance to extract huge corruption money. At that time the Government not only had prohibitive import taxes of up to 150 percent but also quantitative restrictions. One was not allowed, for example, to import cars even by paying the 150 percent import duty. The domestic businesses could sell their goods at high prices and they shared the bounty with the politician-bureaucratic alliance. Say, the cost of production of a tube light in India as well as China was Rs 500. Now, the Government at that time imposed an import duty of Rs 200. This led to increase in the cost of imported tube light to Rs 700. The domestic manufacturers increased the sale price to Rs 700 because they were “protected” both from foreign competition due to high import taxes and from domestic competition because license permit raj. They made a windfall of Rs 200 per tube light that they shared with the politician-bureaucratic alliance. Rajan has done well to draw attention to this peril in increasing import duties. However, Governments have utterly failed to put an end to the extortion by the politician-bureaucratic alliance. Thus, we need a Plan B. Here, protectionism comes back.
However, the present situation is different than the pre-reform period on three counts. The first difference is that we had quantitative restrictions or prohibitive duties on imports previously. One could, for example, could not import a car even by paying a 150 percent import duty. Presently we can increase import duties by a relatively small amount. For example, if the Government imposes an import duty of Rs 200 on tube light. Then the politician-bureaucratic alliance will be able to extort only Rs 200. Imports will come in if they extort Rs 300. The first difference is that there is presently an upper limit to the extortion. Second difference is that domestic monopolies held sway in the eighties. For example, the Tatas reportedly wanted to manufacture cars but the Government did not give license to them in order to protect the monopoly of the Birlas. This monopoly was broken only when Politician Sanjay Gandhi jumped into the fray. At present we have dismantled the license permit raj and competition prevails among the big businesses—both domestic and foreign. Therefore, the chances of extortion of monopolistic profits are much less today. Third difference is that the exposure of our businesspersons to global manufacturing and marketing practices was very limited. Today a number of Indian businesspersons have set up manufacturing facilities in China and they are importing into India the goods made by them in China. Thus, our businesspersons have acquired frontline technologies. An increase in import duties today will not lead to the situation of the eighties because competition among big businesses will reduce the extraction of monopolist profits; and imports will set an upper limit to the extortion by the politician-bureaucratic alliance.
The result of increasing import duties will be that the price of the goods will increase in the domestic market. The price of tube light will increase from Rs 500 to Rs 700. The extortion by the politician-bureaucratic alliance will increase behind the protectionist barriers, say, by Rs 100. Yet, the competition between big business will prevent the extraction of monopolist profits. I estimate that the price of a domestically produced tube light will be Rs 600 while that of the imported tube light will be Rs 700. As a result, the Indian businessperson who is presently manufacturing tube lights in China and importing them into India will shift his manufacturing facility to India and “Make in India” will succeed. Therefore, we should not be bound by our past experiences and increase import duties as a second-best path within the present dismal political situation.
(The author is Formerly Professor of Economics at IIM Bengaluru)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com