Missing seriousness
The government announced the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for the apple crop this week with this objective that the growers and traders can fins easy a ready market for the apple produce.
But the scheme was announced at a time when most of the apple crop is either harvested or sold out by the traders and growers to various mandies and markets outside the state. Presently, the harvest that is undergoing packaging amounts to about 20 to 30 percent of the total crop and this harvest too is being dispatched to various cold storages for being preserved and sold at a later stage.
This year rough estimates suggest that Kashmir valley has witnessed around 15 to 17 lakh metric tons of apple produce. This year the crop was of low quality and yield as the summer hailstorms and later a scab attack had downgraded the size of the apple and its look as well. The conditions turned severe as Kashmir valley witnessed a drought like situation during peak summer season as no rainfall was witnessed during the months of June to September.
Given this scenario the slump in the economy caused by covid-19 pandemic led to a low demand of apple crop across the mandies spread in various states and as such the growers and traders demanded intervention by the government.
The MIS scheme which could have turned the tables for the growers and traders was however announced at a very late stage which has given rise to fears that there will be fewer people who could actually benefit from the scheme.
The mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, Horticulture can prove to be a game changer for the much stressed economy. During the last fiscal Kashmir produced 24 lakh metric tons of fruit with 21 lakh metric tons being the share from apple crop alone.
Horticulture is one of the largest employment generating sectors of the state as one hectare of orchard generates about 400 man-days of work a year and also helps other sectors like transport, pesticides, fertilizers, marketing and other sectors to grow.
During the last fiscal the state of Jammu and Kashmir produced 24.30 lakh metric tons of fruit out of which 21.61 lakh metric tons were produced in Kashmir division. The growth in horticulture has however not come in days or months alone but it has taken decades of toil to reach to the place.
Horticulture sector has witnessed 36 percent growth in terms of production during the last decade. The growth of horticulture sector can be attributed to various initiatives taken by the governments which include mission for integrated development of horticulture, Prime Ministers developmental package and high density plantation programme.
Under these schemes, due attention is being given towards establishment of High Density orchards, better post-harvest management by establishment of fruit mandies and creating controlled atmospheric storage facilities in addition to establishment of Fruit/Vegetables Processing units, technological support, awareness/publicity initiatives, research and extension.
But what could add more colour to the success story is a serious effort initiated by the government to address all the genuine concerns of the growers and traders. These efforts should be timely and taken in consultation with the real stakeholders.
