The Hindu : For stone fruit growers, the good old days are over

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

For stone fruit growers, the good old days are over

'The fortunes of the BJP may be affected in Himachal Pradesh because of the farmers' anger over unrestricted fruit imports'

Sujay Mehdudia

MANALI, HIMACHAL PRADESH

The farmers in Himachal Pradesh are axing hundreds of stone fruit trees. Hit by unrestricted imports and lower returns for their produce, the stone fruit farmers of the State are switching to cash crops that fetch good money and take less time to harvest. A similar trend is being witnessed in the tribal areas of Lahaul-Spiti where potato growers have run into huge losses.

This could have an adverse impact on the fortunes of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, as the farmers are agitated over the liberal economic policies being pursued by the NDA Government at the Centre that have resulted in such a situation. In fact, the Virbhadra Singh Government could also face the farmers' ire as there is a general feeling that the State has also not done much to address their problems, including market intervention when the prices have dipped. However, the Congress blames the Vajpayee Government for this mess and says that the interests of small farmers need to be protected even if it means raising the subsidy component or extending liberal financial assistance from the Central quota.

For the stone fruit growers of Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Lahaul-Spiti districts, the good old days are over. The changing times have forced them to switch over to other new crops and methods of farming. "There was a time when the Santa Rosa variety of our plum crop used to fetch us Rs. 40 to Rs. 60 per kg; there was a good market for our apricots and peaches too. However, the situation has deteriorated in the past few years; prices have plunged to as low as Rs. 10 to Rs. 25 per kg or even less. We have fallen on bad times. Unrestricted imports have badly affected us and this is all because of the anti-farmer policies of the Vajpayee Government," says Dinesh Kumar, a farmer from Kasol in the Manikaran area of Kullu valley.

Travelling across these interior areas dotted with apple orchards, one gets the impression that hundreds of stone fruit trees have been chopped; in some places even apple trees have been axed to make way for other crops as the farmers struggle to keep pace with the changing times.

For the stone fruit farmers who produced the best varieties of almonds, apricots, peaches and plums, things have gone from bad to worse. The declining returns and vagaries of the weather have forced them to look for other alternatives. "Unrestricted import" of stone fruit varieties, including almonds from California, is also to blame. The imported products, though priced higher, are better graded, more attractive and bigger in size, and have found favour with consumers in India.

"The returns from growing cauliflower, peas and other cash crops are very high. Apart from this, one can harvest two to three crops in a year instead of the one crop a year with stone fruit. The payment for cash crops is immediate as vegetables sell at a premium nowadays," remarks Sher Singh of Karsog in Mandi district. However, Mr. Singh feels that not all farmers have the land or the capacity to shift to cash crops as it requires solid investment initially. They plead that unrestricted import of fruits and vegetables should not be allowed and custom duties on such products should be hiked by the Central Government.

Interestingly, even the potato growers of Lahaul-Spiti, once known for producing the best variety of potato, are now shifting to crops like peas, cauliflower and hops used in brewing beer.

This year has been pretty bad for the potato growers of Lahaul and Spiti as their crop lay unsold in Kullu and Manali with no demand for their "super" variety of potato in markets across the country. The Lahaul Potato Suppliers, a cooperative run by the people of the valley, has run into bad times. The regular buyers from Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore have deserted them for other cheap varieties.

Once known for producing high-yield potatoes, the farmers of Lahaul-Spiti are now slowly shifting to peas and hops in large quantities. In many of these areas, potato farming has given way to apple orchards or vegetables. However, fear still haunts these growers as they feel that shifting to cash crops could turn into a problem of plenty in the coming years.

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