Jammu and Kashmir’s Lt Governor GC Murmu has taken it upon himself to highlight the issues faced by apple growers who haven’t been able to sell their crop because of the coronavirus induced lockdown.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Lt Governor Murmu has demanded an extension of the Market Intervention Scheme under which the government procures the produce.
“The breakout of COVID-19 has disrupted the market supply chain yet again and has created unique challenges for marketing apples. This has necessitated the extension of scheme for at least one more year. I request the Government of India to extend the market intervention scheme for apple of Jammu and Kashmir for 2020-21. An agreed implementation mechanism with NAFED is already in place,” Murmu said in the letter.
In 2019, the government at Centre had introduced the Market Intervention Scheme for apples for the 2019 season. It had procured 15.9 thousand metric tonnes of apple at a total cost of Rs 70.52 crore.
The officers in the MHA are waiting for a go-ahead from the government to extend the scheme. “We are waiting for a final go ahead and then we will start procurement this season too,” a senior bureaucrat in the MHA said.
He said the scheme’s token system will help maintain social distancing among apple traders.
“Traders are given tokens so that they don’t crowd market places. As per quality and grading and quantity of their apples, a slip is given and then government transfers money directly to their banks via the Internet,” he explained.
The Apple Industry is the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy. With a production of more than 2 million metric tons and a market size of ₹ 10,000 crore, J&K accounts for 84 per cent of the total production of the fruit in the country.
The apple industry, which provides employment to around 27 per cent people in Jammu and Kashmir, has been facing losses primarily due to frequent closure of the national highway between Srinagar and Jammu, lack of market integration and information asymmetry.
Apple growers say the scheme helped them a great deal last year, when the valley remained under lockdown after the revocation of Article 370.
“This scheme is very good for us. Last year, after Article 370 was abolished, we were very worried about our produce but the Centre helped us. We did not suffer any loss. Hope this year too they approve this scheme,” Abdul Wani of Shopian said.
“Due to corona this year, we are facing a lot of issues related to transport. We have to get tested before we are allowed to go out of Kashmir; that’s why we want the government to allow procurement through NAFED this year too,” said Jaffar Ahmed Mir, an apple grower.