Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are out on the streets some three decades after their last big agitation. The protests are not surprising; their anger has been simmering for a while.
To understand the present crisis, it is crucial to understand the developments of the last few decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, the state provided a lot of support to apple production in Himachal Pradesh: it set up nurseries and gave plants to farmers on a large-scale, offered a transport subsidy on cartons, provided heavy concession on tools, and offered special monetary help for the poor and Dalits to plant apple orchards, among other initiatives. Land reforms were widely implemented since the inception of the State; hardly anyone was left landless. Even before statehood was granted, land was distributed through Nau Taur (breaking new land). Any land tilled was eventually transferred to those tilling them, through successive land settlements. Laws in the State restrict the transfer of land in favour of a person who is not an agriculturist of Himachal Pradesh. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, peasant movements were successful in raising the support prices for apple. However, in the 1990s, with rising fragmentation of land, low productivity and withdrawal of state support, agriculture became unsustainable. The cost of production of agricultural items increased substantially, denying remunerative prices to the poor and marginal growers.
