SRINAGAR: With the import of cheap Iranian apple hurting the fruitgrowers in the Valley and about three crore boxes of apple lying in cold storages and godowns waiting to be sold out, the fruit growers of Kashmir have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to ban the import of Iranian apple.
“Several fruit traders have dumped Iranian apples arriving via Afghanistan and Dubai in the country. This situation has put the whole fruit industry in J&K and Himachal Pradesh in a very precarious situation,” reads the letter from the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union.
The fruit growers have alleged that in the last two months the prices of Kashmir apples have dropped by 30-40 per cent after the entry of Iranian apples in the markets.