Last Sunday , the Indian federal government extended the market intervention scheme aimed at providing optimum price for apple growers in the Kashmir Valley till March next year. The scheme, launched in September this year by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, has been approved by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Union Ministry of Agriculture, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
"The market intervention scheme has been extended by the Union government till March 2020," a spokesman said. The plan is being implemented by the Directorate of Planning and Marketing, supported by the Directorate of Horticulture (Kashmir) and Jammu and Kashmir Horticultural Produce, Marketing and Processing Corporation Ltd.
Under the scheme, apple produce is being procured and marketed by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), and apple growers are getting more remuneration for various grades of the fruit.
At the time of its launch, Malik had said with a turnover of Rs 80 bln (€1.04 bln) per year and close to 700,000 families directly and indirectly associated with it, the horticulture sector in the Kashmir valley needed focused attention on providing every possible support to the growers, right from their orchards to the market.
