The Biz Reporter
Srinagar, Apr 26 – The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has sought urgent intervention from the Lt. Governor’s administration against alleged exploitative practices by local cold storage and controlled atmosphere (CA) store owners in the region.
At a meeting attended by Mr. Bashir Ahmad Basheer along with presidents and general secretaries of all fruit growers’ associations, growers raised concerns over the high-handedness of CA/cold store owners who are charging exorbitant rates for packing materials like cardboard boxes, tapes and bin/crate rentals.
According to the growers, these store owners are not allowing them to procure cheaper packing materials from the open market and are instead compelling them to source supplies from their stores at inflated costs.
“The quality of cardboard boxes provided by these stores is very inferior, increasing the risk of damage to our apple crop during transportation,” said one grower present at the meeting.
The union has also alleged that growers are being forced to store their produce for at least 5 months and are not permitted early retrieval before this period. There are also complaints that apple consignments of individual growers are being deliberately kept in different chambers.
“This raises apprehensions that the store owners intend to compel us to sell our stored crop to them at the lowest possible rates,” claimed a growers’ representative.
Denouncing such practices as exploitative, the union has demanded that the Lt. Governor’s administration intervene immediately to rein in errant cold store operators before growers are forced to take to the streets in protest.
Other long-pending demands raised at the meeting included introduction of a crop insurance scheme to protect growers against losses from recent natural calamities like hailstorms and heavy winds in South Kashmir.
The growing prevalence of spurious pesticides sold by mafia dealers in the Valley was also flagged as a serious concern. Citing recent seizures of counterfeit pesticides, the union pushed for strengthening the enforcement wings and invoking of stringent laws like PSA against offenders.
Lastly, import of foreign apples into India at negligible duties was condemned as a grave threat to J&K’s horticulture sector. Growers demanded imposition of 100% import duty on foreign apples to safeguard local produce.
The Lt. Governor’s administration is being looked upon to urgently address these pressing issues that have caused widespread resentment among the region’s fruit growers.
