Kangra (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 16 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur has supported the demand of Apple growers in the state for the ban on import of apples from Turkey and stated that actions taken against Pakistan should be also be taken for Turkey.

'The way Pakistani citizens were asked to leave.... a similar action should be taken for Turkey. India had helped Turkey a lot, especially when there was an earthquake there. The country behaves with us like this in the time of crisis which is extremely sad. We have helped Turkey in every manner... In this terrorist incident, their (Turkey's) drones were being used against India.... And it was also reported that their people were sitting in Pakistan to give them technical support.... If this is the truth, then the import of the Turkish apples to India should be completely stopped...' Thakur told ANI.

On May 15, young apple growers in Himachal Pradesh demanded an immediate ban on the import of apples from Turkey, Iran, Iraq and China.

They called on the central government to impose a complete ban or at least raise import duties above 100% on apples from about 44 foreign countries, particularly Turkey.

Speaking to ANI, Ankit Bramta, a young apple grower from Jubbal in Shimla district, who holds an MBA and was formerly a software engineer, said, 'This is the right moment to stop Turkish apples from entering India. After working in the corporate world, I switched to apple farming about five years ago. Agriculture and horticulture have a future, unlike other sectors that will soon be disrupted by artificial intelligence. AI may assist, but human labour will always be essential here. I want more youth to return to farming. Given Turkey's support to Pakistan during tensions with India over Kashmir, it is clear Turkey is not our friend.'

Ankit Bramta also said India imports around 80 lakh apple boxes annually from Turkey alone, out of a total trade volume of around USD 10 billion, including the apple fruit crop. A similar volume comes from Iran too, especially between October and April, which clashes with our high-altitude apple harvest. This causes intense price competition.

'India requires about 15 crore apple boxes a year, and we have three states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, and Uttarakhand, that produce 12 crores. The remaining 3 crores are imported, 60% of which come from Iran and Turkey,' said Bramta.'If Turkey's 30% import share is banned, domestic prices will rise, benefiting farmers directly. Companies would buy more from Indian farmers. If imports drop, companies will buy more from us, improve infrastructure, and pass on the profit to us farmers,' he added.

Farmers also argued that such imports undermine Indian apple farmers, especially when domestic produce is struggling to compete with cheaper foreign fruit flooding Indian markets.

The demand, which has gained momentum across Shimla district's apple belt, is backed by educated youth who have left corporate careers to return to farming. (ANI)