Paper short abstract:

The apple fruit-growing areas in the Himalayan tracts of northern India are seeing an upsurge in organised movements against agribusiness, particularly Adani Agrifresh. This paper will study the impact of Adani and the nature of movements being led by small and marginal apple fruit growers.

Paper long abstract:

Agribusinesses, both foreign and national, have entered the fruit and vegetable (F&V) sector in India in a major way after reforms in laws relating to agriculture in 2003. The apple economy was one of the first fruit value chains to be disrupted by agribusiness, with operations by giant firms such as Adani Agrifresh beginning in 2006 in Himachal Pradesh, a Himalayan state in northern India. The firms claimed to be 'revolutionising' the traditional value chains by bypassing the middlemen and intermediaries linked with the open markets, and buying the apple produce directly from the orchard gate of apple growers. Over the years, however, a central point of contention between small apple growers and agribusiness in Himachal Pradesh that has emerged relates to market distortion by the latter, whose announced prices seem to dictate the general prices in the open market, often negatively influencing them. These firms have also pushed many growers away from value-addition activities in the apple economy. The first tremors against agribusiness, particularly Adani, by small growers were felt in the 2021 harvesting season, which snowballed into a major movement in the 2022 harvesting season. Some 5,000 apple growers from hundreds of villages in the apple growing belt stormed the state capital demanding regulation of agribusiness and later picketed the procurement warehouses of Adani as well. This paper will bring throw light on the dynamics of Adani Agrifresh's presence in the apple economy, and the nature of agrarian resistance to its plans of expansion and domination.