The Hill State Horticulture Forum, comprising apple growers from Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir and Uttarakhand, has demanded that the import duty on apple be raised to 100 per cent and the MSP be fixed for all horticulture produce. “In its two-day meeting in Nainital, the Hill State Agriculture Forum has decided to raise the issue of import duty and the MSP with the Centre as well as state governments,” said Harish Chauhan, convenor of the forum.
He said these issues were hurting the interests of apple growers, and they had decided to raise the issue collectively. The forum also decided to urge the governments to monitor the import of apple planting material. “The import is not being monitored. The imported plants are not being quarantined as required after import and are being supplied to the farmers directly. It could lead to new pests and virus entering our orchards, and destroy our fruit economy,” said Chauhan.