No sweetening effect
Kashmir’s cash crop economy which includes produce from the horticulture and allied sectors has gone for a toss since the past several years now. While most of the produce from Kashmir failed the growers and the farmers to even secure the basic costs involved, the government too has not been able to pitch in and provide some relief to the growers.
As this year too, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant financial losses for the growers, Kashmir’s farming community is pinning its hopes on a miracle which alone can save them from a disaster.
This year Kashmir witnessed an ample Cherry produce. Market experts estimate that Kashmir produces around 11000 metric tons of this highly perishable fruit, but again the growers did not get the desired returns.
Fearing for loses for the growers the government though late, announced that it will try to help the growers by intervening at various levels. However, no broad and well defined policy has been made public over this which has in turn brought more worries for the framing community.
Since cherry is a highly perishable fruit, the growers are facing issues vis a vis transporting the fruit to outside mandies where it could have fetched them some revenues. For this the government could have offered some subsidies on transportation so that the fruit could have reached the destinations it was meant to be.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic around 2oo tonnes of cherry have already been exported to different markets in India. Around 1000 boxes have been airlifted to Mumbai and even the growers are being advised to rely on cherry canning.
But what is proving disastrous for the fruit Industry as a whole is that lack on basic infrastructure including a well maintained highway that could have ensured timely dispatch and arrival of fruit to various mandies.
The status of the Jammu Srinagar National Highway is no hidden secret. The highway is in a very bad shape and witnesses frequent disruptions in traffic movement. This phenomenon has led to losses in various sectors in Kashmir and agriculture and allied activities have taken a severe hit. The agriculture sector has witnessed tremendous stress owing to the bad condition of the highway and horticulture the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy has been the worse victim.
Interestingly, Jammu and Kashmir is well known for its horticultural produce both in India and abroad. The state offers good scope for cultivation of horticultural crops, covering a variety of temperate fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, almond, cherry and subtropical fruits like mango, guava, citrus litchi, phalsa and Ber etc, besides medicinal and aromatic plants, floriculture, mushroom, plantation crops and vegetables.
But at the end of the day failure to exploit these sectors owing to bad infrastructure is spoiling any gains that are made. The government should also ensure that the horticulture produce is reached to the destinations on time and for this an alternate route like the Mughal road needs to be kept exclusively for the movement of vehicles carrying the produce to different destinations across India.
KV Network
