India-US Trade Pact: Apple farmers in J&K and Himachal Pradesh to march on Delhi this March Says M.Y Tarigami

SRINAGAR Feb 27 — In a fierce critique of the Government’s trade policies, CPIM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has characterized the recent India-US trade agreement as a “sell-out” to American interests. Addressing a press conference, Tarigami warned that the deal would have devastating consequences for domestic agriculture, specifically targeting the livelihoods of apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The All India Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (AFFI) has joined the outcry, formally demanding that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government prioritize national interests and immediately scrap the agreement to prevent a total collapse of the local market. He added that apple growers from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand are mobilizing for a massive protest in New Delhi this March to demand the immediate scrapping of the India-US trade agreement

The primary point of contention lies in the drastic reduction of import tariffs on American apples, which have been slashed from 50% to a mere 15%. According to the AFFI, this policy shift will flood Indian markets with cheap imports, threatening a domestic industry that has grown significantly from 1.2 lakh metric tonnes in 2000 to 1.7 lakh metric tonnes today. The association projects a catastrophic loss of ₹4 lakh crores for Indian farmers, who are already grappling with low market prices and insufficient state support. In response, the AFFI has called for a massive demonstration outside Parliament on March 10, mobilizing farmers across the Himalayan belt to protest what they view as a direct assault on India’s agrarian economy.