PDP demands all-party meet in J&K over India-U.S. trade deal’s impact on apple sector

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) demanded an all-party meeting in the Assembly on Kashmir’s apple crisis in the wake of the India-U.S. trade deal.

Speaking in the House, PDP leader and legislator Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra said the all-party meeting was important “to devise a collective strategy to tackle the mounting crisis in Kashmir’s apple industry”.

He warned that nearly seven million people dependent on the sector could be affected.

“The apple industry is the backbone of J&K’s economy. Safeguards for local growers amid free trade agreements with the U.S., New Zealand and European nations is the need of the hour,” Mr. Parra said.

‘Farmers need interest-free loans’

Appreciating the J&K government’s pre-and-post-harvest horticulture initiatives, the PDP leader said that out of 30 lakh kanals of orchard land, only 30,000 kanals were under high-density cultivation. “There is a need to have interest-free loans for farmers under Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP),” he added.

He demanded expansion of cold storage and controlled atmosphere storage infrastructure “to prevent distress sales and ensure better price realisation for growers during peak harvest seasons”. “The J&K government needs to revisit the proposed dry port project signed during the tenure of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in the presence of the Prime Minister in Dubai, and reassess its feasibility and strategic value in the current economic context,” Mr. Parra said.