Kashmir Cherry loses its sheen amidst Covid-19
11,000 metric tons of Cherry will fetch least returns for growers
Shopian: After suffering massive losses for the apple produce this year, growers now fear for more looses as Kashmir witnesses the cultivation of its cherry crop.
The growers say that Covid-19 has cast a shadow on Kashmir’s first crop which is expected to cross 11,000 metric tonne mark this year.
Growers said that due to lockdown all the Mandis are locked due to which growers will be hit hard and will suffer losses in crores.
“Over the years we were selling cherry crop to buyers who used to throng the areas which produces cherry. Since cherry is a perishable commodity we used to sell the produce here only,” said Mohammad Ashraf, a grower from Shopian.
He said that this year no trader has visited the area owing to the complete lockdown and Covid-19 crisis.
The growers say that even if government notifies cheery as an essential commodity and allows us to send it outside there are very few takers for the produce that is all set to cross 11,000 metric tons this year.
“The situation seems very scary as I fear that growers will have to bear all the costs including labour and other costs without pinning hopes on any returns,” Subzar Ahmad, another grower from Shopian area lamented.
Pertinently, Kashmir has over 2713 hectares of land under cultivation of Cherry. Various breeds such as Mishri, Dabal, Italian, Makhmali, Siya and others are produced here.
“This year we had a fair amount of produce and if Covid-19 situation would not been prevailing we would have earned good profits,” said Mohammad Yasin, another grower.
Notably, authorities in district Shopian have decided to start limited operations at Aglar Mandi and on daily basis 10 trucks have been allowed to enter the mandi.
Officials said that the fruit is being transported and sold at the mandi and adequate arrangements have been for the transportation of cherry.
The fruit growers say that their loses would have minimized if the region had a good processing unit where cherry fruit would have been canned and preserved for selling it in various markets.
“There are very few food processing units in Kashmir and due to lockdown it seems like cherry will not fetch good returns for the growers. We also witnessed huge losses in apple crop as no movement of vehicles and mandis were available to sell the produce,” said Ansar ul Haq, who works as Assistant Manager at a cold storage unit in Pulwama.
He said that there is not much demand for the cherry fruit locally and it is mostly exported to other states.
Jahangeer Ganaie
