Kashmiri apple farmers in distress over rising production costs

The apple farmers in Kashmir are in distress with rising production costs, falling prices in outside markets and stoppage of fruit laden trucks on national highway nursing feelings of dejection and disbelief.

In the recent weeks, lack of smooth passage to trucks carrying apples on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway has taken a heavy toll on fruit growers across Kashmir. As the peak of harvesting apples has started in the Valley, the growers says around 200-300 fruit-laden trucks are dispatched to different markets across the country daily.

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“But they remain stranded on the national highway for days together. And when they are cleared at once, the mandis outside are flooded with apples at one go due to which prices of the fruit crops, causing losses,” said Fayaz Malik, president of Fruit Mandi, Sopore, Asia’s second largest fruit market.

He said trucks are stopped on different pretexts such as security or road repair. “This has become a daily pattern, which is causing us substantial losses,” Malik added.

Not only the falling apple prices, but rising production costs have left the apple growers in a lurch. Experts say there are multiple reasons why apple prices are falling.

“As the harvest season is peaking, India’s fruit mandis and cold stores are being flooded with apples not just from Kashmir and Himachal but from Afghanistan, Iran, the US and other countries as well,” says Arjimand Hussain, an international development professional.

He said with the mandis and Controlled Atmosphere (CA) stores facing a situation of plenty, it is normal for prices to fall.

“Kashmir’s apple farmers are faced with multiple challenges, the foremost being the rising production costs. Planting materials, labour, agro-chemicals, fertilisers, packing materials and transportation entail huge costs to apple farmers today,” Talib said and added then is the climate change – which is only an unfolding storm.

Horticulture is one of the main industries in Kashmir and contributes around eight percent to J&K’s GDP. The apple is among the biggest shareholders in Kashmir’s horticulture Industry. The high-altitude temperate region of Kashmir is known to be the ideal fruit cultivation land.