Loses are mounting
All the areas that contribute to the horticulture sector in Kashmir valley have almost finished harvesting their crop and are hoping for a better yield in terms of returns for the produce that is being sent to various fruit mandies across north Kashmir.
However, the situation is not as convivial as the fruit producers and seller were expecting. This year the demand which was expected to be high has not been so forthcoming and the rates that are being offered to the produce are bare minimum.
The reasons being that most of the produce that was sold in the mandies has not been able to find a ready market as the economic slowdown due to covid pandemic has hit the markets and the purchasing capacity of a common man.
This year Kashmir’s cash crop economy which includes produce from the horticulture and allied sectors has gone for a toss, like it did in the last few years. 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 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 the highly perishable fruit, but again the growers did not get the desired returns.
Hopefully, the government announced that it will try to help the growers by intervening at various levels. However, no broad and well defined policy was announced and the growers continued to face loses.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic around 200 tonnes of cherry were exported to different markets in India. Around 1000 boxes were airlifted to Mumbai and even the growers were being advised to rely on cherry canning.
But what is proving disastrous for the fruit Industry as a whole is that lack of 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.
KV Network
