AFFI says apple farmers face widespread indebtedness and pauperization, urges govt for a legally guaranteed MSP

Of an average price of Rs 80 per kg that the consumer pays for apples, the farmer receives only Rs 24 per kg. Thus, for the 18 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of marketable produce, farmers receive about Rs 4,300 crore against a value of Rs 14,400 crore in the consumer market. The unbridled increase in the cost of production and transportation and the cost of living due to unprecedented price rises and inflation has made apple cultivation unremunerative. This is what the Apple Farmers’ Federation of India (AFFI) has written in a memorandum to Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The memorandum says that the organizing committee (OC) of the AFFI has taken note of the large-scale exploitation of the apple farmers of the country as well as the farm labour in the sector by the corporate forces and their middlemen “backed by the neoliberal policies being implemented by successive Central governments.” It highlights the denial of remunerative prices to the farmers and lagging far behind the global standards in productivity. In the context of these and other issues, the memorandum says, the OC of AFFI has adopted an 11-point charter of demands. The main demand is one for a legally guaranteed procurement price and Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Apple provides livelihood to around 9 lakh households in India, mainly from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Around 24 lakh MT of Apple is produced by India. In that, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) contributes 77 per cent of the production, and India is the sixth largest producer in the world. 8 per cent of the GDP of J&K is from apple.

Issue of remunerative price

The major issue confronting the farmers in the apple industry today is the denial of remunerative price, says the memorandum. Around 30 per cent of the production gets wasted or spoiled at different stages due to the non-availability of storage facilities for small and middle farmers. An average value fetched by the farmers in various categories is estimated as Rs 45 for A grade, Rs 20 for B grade and Rs 8 for C grade. On average, farmers get Rs 24 per kilo, and since 18 lakh MT is the marketable produce, roughly Rs 4,300 crore is the income farmers receive.

Against this, the memorandum says, the consumer price of apple as per the grade varies from Rs 30 to Rs 300. If we consider Rs 80 as the average commodity price in the retail market, then around Rs 14,400 crore is the value in the consumer market. The farmers who have to bear the cost of production, including the labour charges, get below 30 per cent of this value chain. The remaining 70% of the value, i.e., a whooping above Rs 10,000 crore per year, is shared by various stakeholders, including corporate players, intermediaries and commission agents, cold chain owners, transporters, wholesale traders, and retailers, credit institutions and tax to the governments.

The memorandum goes on to say: “The farm workers are also not paid sufficiently to live with dignity and face job insecurity and are hence forced to migrate to other sectors in search of better jobs and income. The small and middle peasants and agricultural worker households face widespread indebtedness and distress and resultant pauperization. Even in this circumstance, the Government of India is being insensitive to the demand of MSP@C2+50% and freedom from indebtedness by the apple farmers.”

Productivity issue

The average global productivity is 60 MT per hectare, whereas in India it is only 10 MT per hectare. Attaining global productivity standards in the apple sector, says the memorandum, can bring fivefold income to farm households. Besides, there is no effective government mechanism for procurement, transport and storage of apples. Effective research and development projects to attain global standards and procurement, transportation and storage facilities by the government are the urgent need of the hour, the memorandum says.

Cooperative farming and value addition

AFFI says that provisions for value addition and sharing of the profit out of that to the farmers only can ensure an adequate income for the farmers. For that, effective alternatives to cooperatives must be developed. The Union government, the research and development institutions and institutions of finance have to support farmers to build cooperative production relations in apple cultivation as well as in the procurement, processing for value addition, stock and distribution and marketing sectors. It has suggested the successful models of producer cooperatives like dairy cooperative Amul in Gujarat and the Brahmagiri Development Society in Kerala.

Charter of demands

The AFFI has put forth a charter of demands before the Union Minister in the memorandum and asked him to take necessary immediate actions to resolve the livelihood crisis faced by the Apple farmers across the country.

The foremost among these demands is ensuring a remunerative price. AFFI has urged the Minister to ensure a legally guaranteed procurement price and MSP @C2+50% for apple. It has also asked for grant and loan assistance to apple farmers’ producer cooperatives for undertaking procurement at MSP. It has called for Market Intervention Scheme to support farmers, especially on the occasion of crop damages caused by diseases and natural calamities.

Besides, the AFFI would like to have a clause added in the APMC Acts to ensure that private buyers, including corporate buyers, must pay the price for apple at least @C2+50%. Government agencies such as HPMC and HIMFED must immediately clear arrears to apple growers and pay farmers for the delivery of produce.

The memorandum urges the government to declare a comprehensive loan waiver package and waive loans pending against all the small and middle farmers below 10-hectare land and agricultural workers and farm workers. According to it, the government should provide loans at 4 per cent interest to farmer and farm worker households under KCC. Besides, the government should declare Rs 2,500-crore special financial packages to enhance productivity to 40 tonnes per hectare as achieved in some developed countries.