Amid harvest season, transportation hassles put Kashmir’s apple industry in peril

These apples are even exported to Bangladesh and Nepal, where demand for Kashmiri apples is significant.

At a time when the apple harvest season is at its peak in Kashmir, growers and traders are suffering huge losses due to the hurdles faced by fruit-laden vehicles on the arterial Srinagar-Jammu highway.

Thousands of trucks transporting apples had been stranded for days together on an approximately 300-km-long highway waiting to leave. The trucks were allowed to move on Wednesday after two days of protests and strikes by fruit growers and traders associations.

Apple traders have been expressing their concerns for over three weeks now over what they called an “unnecessary halt” of the fruit-laden trucks.

According to officials, the trucks have been stranded on the national highway due to mudslides and landslides.

Impact of the delay

The growers fear that more delays in the timely transportation of apples and other cash crops will lead to a big loss for Jammu and Kashmir economy.

Every day hundreds of vehicles leave with thousands of apple boxes from various fruit markets across Kashmir. These apples are even exported to Bangladesh and Nepal, where demand for Kashmiri apples is significant.

Currently, on average, as many as 1,500 trucks leave from Kashmir, but the traders expect a rise in the coming days since harvest season has started in the region.

The traders alleged that the apple industry is suffering due to roadblocks on the highway. Consequently, they say, the trucks do not reach mandis on time, leading to the deterioration of the high-quality apples.

Mohammad Ashraf Wani, a fruit trader in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, said that if the trucks do not reach their destinations on time, half the produce in each truck could get spoiled.

Wani told Moneycontrol that when fruits fail to reach the market they have to be sold at lower rates as they either arrive in bulk at once or become so spoiled that no one buys them.

Bashir Ahmad Basheer, Chairman, Kashmir Fruit Valley Growers cum Dealers Union, said that despite repeated advisories that the situation would improve, the authorities have failed to enable movement.

“The situation has worsened due to the government's mismanagement. This is the first time I am witnessing such a mess on the highway even though the issue of landslides has been there for a long time,” Basheer told Moneycontrol.

Mohammad Ashraf, an apple grower in the Sopore area of north Kashmir, told Moneycontrol that due to transportation hassles the rates have sunk. “An A grade apple box, which would fetch us Rs 500-550 is now being sold at just Rs 350-400. This year we fear that we will not be able to even earn the amount that we spent on our orchards.”

Ashraf alleged that the highway blockade is an attempt “to crush the industry”, which is already suffering due to climate change and the entry of untaxed Iranian apples into the Indian market.

The apple industry, worth Rs 8,000 crore, is the backbone of the J&K Union Territory’s economy. More than 3.5 million people are directly or indirectly associated with the apple trade, contributing about 8 percent to the region’s GDP.

Exports under threat

Over the years Bangladesh has become the biggest export market for Kashmiri apples.

According to official figures, 12,000 tonnes of apples are exported to Bangladesh while around 8,000 tonnes are exported to Nepal.

On average, nearly 2000 apple boxes, mostly American, are shipped from Asia’s second-largest Fruit Mandi to Bangladeshi fruit markets daily. However, due to repeated problems on the road, the Bangladeshi fruit traders have threatened to cease operations in Kashmir.

The Bangladesh fruit purchasers lamented that they have incurred heavy losses due to the unnecessary halt of fruit-laden trucks on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

“Earlier, fruit-laden trucks would arrive in Bangladesh in 6-7 days, but now, due to transportation hassles, the trucks arrive in Bangladesh in 15 days. We have been facing massive losses and if the situation persists, we will quit trading here.”

Basheer also said that 300 fruit-filled trucks that were heading toward Bangladesh have been stopped on the highway. Since the Bangladesh border will purportedly have a scheduled closure on September 28, all 300 fruit-filled trucks will now be completely ruined. “Due to transportation hassles on the highway, Bangladesh may now look to buy apples from Iran and China. The move will hurt business to a great extent and can badly hit Kashmir’s apple industry.”

Exposed to the elements

Drivers stuck on the highway say that when the fruit-laden trucks are stopped under direct sunlight, the heat spoils the high-quality apples quickly. “The polythene sheets used on trucks to cover the fruit add to the temperature, spoiling the fruit from inside. Similarly, too much rain also damages both apples as well as boxes,” said Danish Ahmad, a driver.

He added that while traffic movement remains smooth from Jammu to Srinagar, there are massive hurdles for vehicles coming from Srinagar to Jammu. “From Srinagar to Jammu a fruit-laden truck takes 3-4 days to reach the mandi. However, the return from Jammu to Srinagar hardly takes a day or two.”

Apple growers and traders incurring losses have started protest demonstrations and closed all fruit mandis across Kashmir.

All ten major wholesale fruit mandis in the Kashmir valley were shut on Sunday and Monday to protest the administration’s “failure” to clear the blockage on the highway.

On Monday, members of the Fruit Growers Association held a protest demonstration at Parimpora fruit Mandi and Srinagar’s Lal Chowk.

The protestors alleged that fruit-laden trucks were being deliberately stopped at various places due to which fruit had rotted.

However, after a widespread outcry over the stoppage, the J&K administration transferred Shabir Ahmad Malik, Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, National Highways.

According to the J&K administration, normal traffic was restored on the strategic highway after authorities cleared over 5,000 trucks through the Banihal highway and the Mughal road during the last three days.

Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, said that normal traffic has been restored on the national highway.

Political parties express outrage 

Political parties have criticised the government for having no permanent policy for hassle-free movement of fruit-laden trucks during the crop harvest season.

J&K National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that despite assurances from the government, nothing much is being done on the ground.

"Unending queue of trucks laden with apples from Kashmir on NH 44 today. It's 25⁰C, and the fruit is loaded without any preservation and cold chain, meant to be rushed to Mandis in parts of India. Instead, it gets to spend days on the highway. The smell of rotting fruit fills the air," Dar tweeted.

J&K People’s Conference leader and former minister Imran Reza Ansari alleged that devastation inflicted upon fruit growers is a “ploy by internal saboteurs within the government to instigate the farmers of Kashmir”.

“The devastation inflicted upon the fruit growers appears to be a ploy by internal saboteurs within the government to instigate the farmers of Kashmir. Mark my words, this will lead to economic devastation, which has portends (sic) of begetting a fresh wave of violence in Kashmir,” Ansari tweeted.

On Monday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti also criticised the government for the disruption in the movement of apple-laden trucks on the highway.

Addressing a news conference at the party headquarters in Srinagar, Mufti alleged that efforts are being made to weaken the backbone of Kashmir’s economy.