Srinagar: Kashmir’s major economy, apples, through which it earns Rs. 8000 crore annually is suffering huge losses. In the lockdown imposed since last year due to the stripping off of article 370, the apple industry had already gone through crisis, following which came the early unexpected snowfall and to make things utter worse, a pandemic. This has broken the supply chain and hampered the trade to a great extent.
The abrogation of article 370 had destroyed the apple orchards, shearing off the earnings of the time. Farmers had expected the season post lockdown to help them in the sales and had hence saved the harvest in the cold compartments.
Huge quantities of apples are rotting due to non availability of a market and buyers. Thousands of apple boxes lie in cold storages across the valley. The farmers have requested to the J&K administration to listen to their woes and help them come above this.
“Farmers are suffering losses in crores, we appeal to the Lt Governor to come to our rescue, our produce has suffered huge damage, there are no buyers, we can’t sell the apples during the lockdown,” said a farmer in Pulwama.
August saw a delay in the harvest which left many apples rotting on the trees. When people tried to go their farms, militant scare allow them to do so and many migrant workers were forced to fled the state. When things seemed to have subsided, farmers started the harvest and the trucks too slowly came into the state to carry the apples. This resulted in an outbreak of violence by the militants when killing of non-local laborers was reported in South Kashmir. Many trucks left the valley empty. The growers stored their harvest in the hope of receiving better rates this spring. But the second lockdown in less than a year has drowned all their hopes.
“We are really at a loss and don’t know how to deal with the situation,” said an apple merchant.
Director of Horticulture Kashmir, Ejaz Ahmad Bhat, says it is true that 34000 MTs of apple is lying in the cold storage. Nevertheless, he said that the government is granting passes to the farmers to export their harvest and also to unload them at Azadpore and other markets. He added that more than 30 trucks are moving out of the Valley every day.
But there is no demand. “We are trying to push fruit in the markets but there is almost no demand we are pushing at less costs. B Grade produce has already gone nil in value. Our growers want government interventions and discounts in storage costs,” he adds.
“This is the same fruit which is stuck because of events followed after Article 370 abrogation. The government should intervene and banks should look into this,” he adds. “People are struggling outside to buy onions and tomatoes, who will ask for apple.”
Kashmir produces 20 lakh metric tonnes of apples every year. The fruit is cultivated on more than 37 lakh hectares of land across the valley constituting 75 per cent of the total apple production in India. The fruit earns Kashmir Rs 8000 crores annually, and provides livelihood to 33 lakh people including seven lakh farmers.
The apple of India’s eye is in sheer pain and nothing concrete seems to be getting done to rectify it.
