Shimla farmers slam Modi Govt for yielding to US pressure on apple imports

United News of India

4 hours ago

Shimla, July 23 (UNI) Hundreds of apple growers and activists on Monday raised strong objections to the eviction of small farmers under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) and the central government's decision to reduce import tariffs on foreign apples under alleged US pressure.
The meeting, addressed by former Himachal MLA and AFFI co-convener Rakesh Singha and CPI(M) legislator from Jammu and Kashmir Yusuf Tarigami, criticised the Indian government for 'succumbing to imperial diktats' that threaten the livelihoods of fruit growers in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Tarigami accused the Modi government of bowing before the Trump administration's push to reduce import duties on apples from 50% to as low as 15–30%, calling it 'a betrayal of India's farmers.'
He warned that the decision would devastate local markets already suffering from low prices and high production costs. 'This is not just economic pressure; it's part of a larger imperial design to dominate developing nations by destroying their self-reliance,' he said, urging farmers across the country to unite for the nationwide protest scheduled on July 8–9.
Rakesh Singha, while highlighting the deepening agricultural crisis, said about 10 lakh families in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir depend on apple and off-season vegetable farming.
'This sector is under threat not just from imports but also from the systematic eviction of farmers through encroachment drives under the FCA. While developed countries have ravaged their own ecosystems, they now force India to implement laws in the name of conservation that end up dispossessing its poorest cultivators,' he said.
Speakers emphasised that these policies are pushing hill farmers—who have long preserved nature through traditional land use—into destitution and are a direct continuation of anti-people, anti-farmer colonial mindsets masked as global cooperation.
During the meeting speaker also raised the issue of failing of Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government to press centre to increase import duty on the apple and promise made by Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi and Education Minister Rohit Thakur at Vidhan Sabha Apple growers rally during Budget session at Shimla.
"We apple growers are being ignored by Congress and BJP Government at centre as both couldn't keep promises" Convenor of AFFI Sohan Thakur said in the meet.
The meeting concluded with a call for mass mobilisation and policy reversal to protect local agriculture and uphold land rights of marginal farmers. UNI ML SSP