{"id":183327,"date":"2025-09-11T20:11:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=183327"},"modified":"2025-09-11T20:11:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:11:52","slug":"srinagar-jammu-highway-closure-causes-rs700-crore-loss-to-valley-growers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2025\/09\/11\/srinagar-jammu-highway-closure-causes-rs700-crore-loss-to-valley-growers.html","title":{"rendered":"Srinagar-Jammu highway closure causes Rs700 crore loss to Valley growers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the prolonged closure of the Srinagar\u2013Jammu highway has plunged Kashmir\u2019s horticulture sector into crisis, with the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union (KVFGDU) estimating losses of nearly Rs 700 crore this season.<\/p>\n

According to Kashmir Media Service, fruit-growers, traders and truckers say the shutdown has left thousands of fruit-laden trucks stranded, forced farmers to dump rotten produce, and pushed freight charges to unsustainable levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier, we used to pay Rs 50 to Rs 60 per apple box when transporting via highway. Now, on the Mughal Road, we are charged around Rs 200 per box. This is simply unbearable,\u201d said Abdul Majid, a fruit-grower from Shopian. \u201cThe margins in apple farming are already very low. With freight charges tripling, we are running into losses that we may never recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bashir Ahmad, another grower from Pulwama, said the crisis has disrupted grading and marketing strategies. \u201cThe money we are receiving in outside markets is not even covering the freight charges. Most people have delayed picking up first-grade apples because we cannot afford to take the risk of them rotting in transit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At Srinagar\u2019s Parimpora fruit mandi, heaps of rotten apples lie scattered, with growers forced to pay labourers to dump their own produce. \u201cWe hired trucks and loaded our apples with a hope. But after being stuck for days on the highway, the fruit came back rotten. Now we spend more money to throw it away,\u201d said Ghulam Nabi, a farmer. \u201cThis is the first time I have seen growers paying for the destruction of their own produce,\u201d added Mohammad Yousuf, a Sopore-based trader.<\/p>\n

Truckers stranded for nearly two weeks on the highway also voiced anger and despair. \u201cThis is unbearable. These 13 days feel like 13 years.<\/p>\n

Farmers warned that the continuing blockade could cripple Kashmir\u2019s apple industry, considered the backbone of the Valley\u2019s economy, which is already grappling with the effects of climate change, untimely rains, and rising input costs. \u201cApple is the backbone of Kashmir\u2019s economy. If the government fails to safeguard it, the economic repercussions will be disastrous not only for growers but for the entire Valley,\u201d Basheer said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the prolonged closure of the Srinagar\u2013Jammu highway has plunged Kashmir\u2019s horticulture sector into crisis, with the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union (KVFGDU) estimating losses of nearly Rs 700 crore this season. According to Kashmir Media Service, fruit-growers, traders and truckers say the shutdown has left …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/09\/Kashmir-Highway-Closed-Stranded-Trucks-1024x683-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183337,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183327\/revisions\/183337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}