Context:

• NAFED has been tasked with purchasing all the apples that growers bring to sell at mandis in the Kashmir Valley.

Background:

• The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has not bought a single kilogram of apples for the last three decades or more.
• This trade was always in private hands and the government didn’t think it necessary to intervene.

Concern:

• A bumper crop, for which there would hardly be any private buyers with all the current movement restrictions, makes it all the more challenging.
• There is no MSP for apple.
• The state government will fix the procurement prices for different grades (A, B and C) and varieties.
• It is expected that we will pay 5 per cent more than the market price prevailing last year.
• The total cost of procurement operations is tentatively assessed at Rs 5,000 crore.
• Apple harvesting is now on mainly in HP, where an estimated 50-60 per cent of the fruit in the main belt of Shimla, Narkanda, Sainj and Rohru are still on the trees.
• Currently, Royal Delicious apple is fetching an average modal price of Rs 3,300 per quintal in Shimla, as against Rs 7,800-7,900 at this time last year. That has mainly to do with a bigger crop, likely in Kashmir as well.

Why Such Move:

Kashmir unrest

• Apple cultivation is the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy with revenue of around Rs1,200 crore a year, and has been hit due to the clampdown post abrogation of the state’s special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution.
• The move is aimed at helping farmers, and comes in the backdrop of New Delhi imposing long-pending retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products.
• Key items imported by India from the US include almond and fresh apples worth $645 million and $165 million, respectively.

Stats:

• Jammu & Kashmir accounts for about 18 lakh tonnes (lt) out of India’s total annual apple production of 23-24 lt, which also includes 4.5-5 lt from Himachal Pradesh and 50,000-60,000 tonnes from Uttarakhand.
• This year, the country’s output is projected to touch 26 lt due to good snowfall, with J&K alone harvesting 20 lt or so.

What is National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India?

• The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) plays a crucial role in organizing, promoting, and developing the marketing, processing, and storage of agricultural, horticultural, and forest produce. Additionally, NAFED is actively involved in the distribution of agricultural machinery, implements, and other inputs. The federation undertakes inter-state, import, and export trade, both wholesale and retail, while providing technical advice for agricultural production. For comprehensive insights into optimizing your online presence, including SEO strategies in the casino industry, explore SEO Casino. SEO Casino offers valuable resources and guidance to enhance your marketing efforts in the competitive landscape of the online casino sector..
• NAFED is the central agency assigned to procure directly from farmers and is expected to play a pivotal role in helping double farmers’ income by 2022.

Apple Economy:

• J&K apple production contributes 10 per cent to the total state income of $20 billion.
• India is the fifth largest producer of apples in the world, even though its share in global apple production is just 3 per cent.
• More than two thirds of the National Apple Production comes from the Valley of Kashmir.
• Absence of Logistics and Infrastructure
  • The complete concentration of production and area under apple cultivation is matched only by a complete absence of infrastructure; only 0.3 per cent of national storage capacity is in the state.
  • There are just 36 cold storages in J&K out of the 6,000 in the country. In addition to this, there is no logistics infrastructure.

About Apple:

• Around 20 Lakh tonnes of Apple is produced in India every year.
• The top apple producing states of India are Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Arunachal Pradesh with their respective shares of 70%, 21.5%, 6.4% and 1.6%.
• Further, apple is also produced in Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland also. Key apple varieties include: Michal, Mollies Delicious, Maayan, Anna, Chaubattia Anupam, Rich-e-Red, Gala, Firdous, Lal ambri , Kinnauri Apple etc.