<p>Srinagar: Famous for their crispness and sweet flavour, the journey of Kashmir’s exquisite apples from farms to markets was always fraught with challenges giving growers sleepless nights.</p><p>With limited storage options, a significant portion of the apple harvest would often perish before reaching consumers, causing substantial losses to farmers and the economy. However, the advent of controlled-atmospheric (CA) storage facilities had become a beacon of hope for the farmers.</p><p>Equipped with cutting-edge technology, CA storage offers the perfect environment to store apples at precise temperatures, preserving their freshness and quality for extended periods. The CA storage system ensures an optimum supply of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen besides humidity and temperature to preserve edible items for longer periods of time.</p><p>Apples kept in cold-storage units in Kashmir help growers to fetch much better rates by selling their production according to their will and market demand.</p>.Govt diverts Chenab river water to expedite hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir.<p>Farooq Ahmad, an apple grower from south Kashmir’s Shopian districts said that cold stores have come as a shot in the arm for growers. “In 2020, I brought my A-grade apples to a cold store and I was glad to see the difference. For a 16 kg apple box I used to get Rs 550-650 compared to Rs 1,200-1,500 through cold stores,” he said</p><p>One would have hardly imagined that Kashmir apple will be available in the market in April when trees are in bloom and the harvest season is just five months away.</p><p>An owner of one of these cold-storage units said that a 10 kg box of stored apple sells at a minimum of Rs 1,000, and at Rs 1,800 as the highest price, depending on the quality and colour of the apple.</p><p>“Cold storage units also provide employment to hundreds of people. Besides, labourers also get jobs as the work of packing apples remains round the year,” he said and added the Valley has 40 cold storages with most of them located in southern districts of Pulwama and Shopian.</p><p>The Jammu and Kashmir government has encouraged and aided private players to set up CA facilities. In the annals of Kashmir's history, the story of the CA facility could be etched as a testament to the triumph of human ingenuity over nature's whims, forever remembered as the frosty harbinger of a brighter tomorrow for the valley's apple industry.</p><p>According to National Horticulture Board figures, J&K is the largest apple-producing region of India, catering to 70 per cent of the total apple demand in the country. Kashmir exports more than 20 lakh metric tons of apple every year, and the horticulture industry is pegged to be worth around 9000 to 10000 crore including the employment it generates.</p>
<p>Srinagar: Famous for their crispness and sweet flavour, the journey of Kashmir’s exquisite apples from farms to markets was always fraught with challenges giving growers sleepless nights.</p><p>With limited storage options, a significant portion of the apple harvest would often perish before reaching consumers, causing substantial losses to farmers and the economy. However, the advent of controlled-atmospheric (CA) storage facilities had become a beacon of hope for the farmers.</p><p>Equipped with cutting-edge technology, CA storage offers the perfect environment to store apples at precise temperatures, preserving their freshness and quality for extended periods. The CA storage system ensures an optimum supply of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen besides humidity and temperature to preserve edible items for longer periods of time.</p><p>Apples kept in cold-storage units in Kashmir help growers to fetch much better rates by selling their production according to their will and market demand.</p>.Govt diverts Chenab river water to expedite hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir.<p>Farooq Ahmad, an apple grower from south Kashmir’s Shopian districts said that cold stores have come as a shot in the arm for growers. “In 2020, I brought my A-grade apples to a cold store and I was glad to see the difference. For a 16 kg apple box I used to get Rs 550-650 compared to Rs 1,200-1,500 through cold stores,” he said</p><p>One would have hardly imagined that Kashmir apple will be available in the market in April when trees are in bloom and the harvest season is just five months away.</p><p>An owner of one of these cold-storage units said that a 10 kg box of stored apple sells at a minimum of Rs 1,000, and at Rs 1,800 as the highest price, depending on the quality and colour of the apple.</p><p>“Cold storage units also provide employment to hundreds of people. Besides, labourers also get jobs as the work of packing apples remains round the year,” he said and added the Valley has 40 cold storages with most of them located in southern districts of Pulwama and Shopian.</p><p>The Jammu and Kashmir government has encouraged and aided private players to set up CA facilities. In the annals of Kashmir's history, the story of the CA facility could be etched as a testament to the triumph of human ingenuity over nature's whims, forever remembered as the frosty harbinger of a brighter tomorrow for the valley's apple industry.</p><p>According to National Horticulture Board figures, J&K is the largest apple-producing region of India, catering to 70 per cent of the total apple demand in the country. Kashmir exports more than 20 lakh metric tons of apple every year, and the horticulture industry is pegged to be worth around 9000 to 10000 crore including the employment it generates.</p>