Kashmiri apple growers appeal for govt help

A Kashmiri labourer picks apples at an orchard in Shopian. File pic/AFP

A bumper apple production in Kashmir this season has failed to cheer up growers as their produce is being sold at nearly 30 per cent lower rates than last year. Faced with huge losses, farmers have now sought government intervention. The Kashmiri apple hogged the headlines in September, after an uproar over frequent disruption in its transportation from the orchards in the valley to markets outside the UT.

Kashmir produces about 75 per cent of the total apple crop in India and is considered the backbone of its economy, contributing about 8.2 per cent to J&K's GDP. "...there is no doubt the growers are suffering huge losses. It is very difficult for them to overcome the losses without government support," Chamber of Azadpur Fruit and Vegetable Traders chief Metha Ram Kriplani said.

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Grower-cum-trader Bashir Ahmad Baba, from Budgam district, said hopes of a good return for the produce this season have dashed, and most of the growers and traders were apprehensive of their financial wellbeing. "The frequent closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to landslides during the peak harvesting season and the stranding of fruit-laden trucks for days together have had its impact as we were late to the mandis," he said. Baba said the expenses on each apple box of 16 kg is over R500, which includes packaging, freight charges and use of pesticides and fertilizers, but "we are only getting an average of Rs 400 per box".

More than half of Kashmir's population is directly or indirectly linked to the horticulture industry. "The government has to come forward and rescue us," Baba said. Kriplani advocated a waiver of interest on bank loans and also soft loans for farmers.

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