SRINAGAR: The proposed US–India trade deal has triggered deep anxiety among growers in Kashmir, with apple growers sending an SOS to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over fears that cheaper imports from the United States could severely undermine the domestic horticulture sector. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also warned that the deal could deliver a major blow to the Union Territory’s horticulture and dry fruit economy.
Growers fear that any reduction or waiver of import duties on US fruits under the trade agreement would erode the price advantage currently enjoyed by domestic apples.
Zahoor Ahmad, an apple grower from Shopian in south Kashmir, said cheaper imports would directly hurt local fruit growers.
“With a reduction in import duties on fruits from the US, there will be little difference between the prices of American apples and Kashmiri apples. Consumers would naturally prefer imported US apples, which would severely damage our apple industry and force growers to incur heavy losses,” he said.
In 2025, fruit growers had already suffered heavy losses due to the prolonged closure of the Srinagar–Jammu national highway following incessant rainfall and floods in Jammu, which disrupted transportation and market access during the peak season.
The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has taken up the issue with the Prime Minister.
In a letter addressed to PM Modi, the Union’s president Bashir Ahmad Bashir cautioned that reducing import duties on fruits from the US and New Zealand would make imported apples cheaper, prompting traders to prefer foreign produce over apples grown in Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh.
“The cumulative impact of apple imports from the US, Iran and other countries has been damaging local growers, particularly small and marginal farmers who are already grappling with rising input costs, erratic weather, pest attacks and transport challenges,” Bashir said.
The Union urged the Prime Minister to impose import duties exceeding 100 per cent on American and European apples to safeguard the domestic horticulture industry. Bashir warned that failure to do so could push Jammu and Kashmir’s horticulture sector into a crisis and turn it into a sick industry.
The apple industry in the Union Territory directly or indirectly provides livelihoods to nearly seven lakh families, making it a critical pillar of the local economy.
Echoing similar concerns, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the India–US trade deal would severely harm J&K’s traditional economic sectors.
“Allowing duty-free imports of American produce would have devastating consequences for local growers dependent on crops such as almonds, saffron, apples, kiwis, tree nuts, dry fruits and dairy,” Omar told the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Tuesday amid sloganeering by BJP members.
“These are vital sectors for us. We do not have a marine industry or marine produce. Our economy relies heavily on horticulture and dry fruits,” he said. “While the trade deal may benefit other regions of the country, Jammu and Kashmir would only suffer losses.”
CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami also alleged that the trade agreement would severely hurt India’s agricultural sector, dealing a particular blow to Jammu and Kashmir’s economy.
Opposition parties and trader bodies have expressed apprehension that cheap US apples could flood Indian markets in the coming months following any import duty waiver, potentially driving down prices for apples produced in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and inflicting heavy losses on local growers.