Representative image of apple.
Credit: Pixabay Photo
Srinagar: Despite Bangladesh increasing the assessment value of the Kashmiri apple by around 40 per cent to discourage imports last year, the neighboring country has emerged as a second home for Valley apples.
According to fruit dealers, these days over 30 apple laden trucks are leaving for Dhaka and other cities of Bangladesh daily from Kashmir. According to official figures, 12,000 tonnes of apples are exported to Bangladesh while around 8,000 tonnes are exported to Nepal.
Several traders from Bangladesh are also camping in Kashmir to buy and meet the demand for Kashmiri apples in their homeland.
“We have been associated with the apple trade in Kashmir for nearly a decade now. We mostly export American varieties of apple to our native country where the demand for this variety is manifold,” said Moin-ud-Din, a trader from Bangladesh.
He exports more than two apple trucks to Bangladesh daily, where the demand for Kashmiri apples is growing with each passing day. The apples are transported to Bangladesh along the border with West Bengal.
Bangladesh is the biggest export market of Kashmiri apples. However, the assessment value hike by the Bangladesh government has left the growers very worried.
President of Kashmir Apple Growers Association, Fayaz Ahmad Malik said that imposition of export duty by the Bangladesh government was becoming an impediment in the large-scale exports to the country.
“We pay Rs 95/kg of apple as export duty. It sums up Rs 22 lakh/truck loaded with apples. Kashmiri traders would have been benefited if the export duty was not imposed,” he said.
Kashmir boasts around 80 per cent share of the total apple produced in India. The Horticulture industry of Kashmir is pegged to be worth around Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000.