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Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, authorities\u2019 inaction and the prolonged closure of the Srinagar-Jammu Highway have pushed the Valley\u2019s horticulture sector into one of its worst crises in recent years.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, despite repeated warnings from growers and trade bodies, IIOJK authorities failed to intervene or provide alternatives as the highway, the Valley\u2019s only surface link to the rest of world, remained shut for nearly two weeks. The result: a crash in apple prices by over 40 percent, massive spoilage, and losses estimated at over INR 2,000 crore.<\/p>\n
With the supply chain broken, fruit mandis across India turned to alternative markets. Meanwhile, Kashmiri growers watched helplessly as their produce lost freshness, quality, and value\u2014stranded in transit without cold storage or alternate routes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are being pushed to the wall,\u201d said Bashir Ahmad Basheer, Chairman of the All Kashmir Fruit Growers Union. \u201cThe rates outside are nowhere near expectations. Much of the fruit that finally reaches markets is damaged after being stuck on the highway for days. Buyers are not even paying the basic cost of production.\u201d \u201cFor almost 20 days, our stock has remained stuck, leaving growers helpless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At Jammu\u2019s Narwal fruit mandi, a box of Kashmiri apples that once sold for INR 500 fetched just INR100\u2014most of the stock deemed unfit for sale. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly rotten. Customers don\u2019t want this quality,\u201d said a local trader.<\/p>\n
The Srinagar-Jammu highway blockade has once again exposed the fragility of Kashmir\u2019s horticultural economy, which contributes Rs 10,000 crore annually and supports over 35 lakh livelihoods. The Valley produces over 20 lakh metric tonnes of apples each year, nearly 70% of India\u2019s total output, with major markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and even the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Yet, year after year, the Kashmir growers remain at the mercy of landslides, shooting stones, and weather-induced closures on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, a route infamous for its unreliability.<\/p>\n
The Kashmir Valley\u2019s trade associations have long urged authorities to develop an all-weather alternative route and invest in large-scale cold storage infrastructure. But little has been done, leaving growers trapped in a cycle of distress sales, uncertainty, and mounting debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a one-off event. It happens every year,\u201d said another orchardist from Shopian. \u201cWe talk about boosting exports, but how can we even compete when we can\u2019t move our produce out on time?\u201d Until structural issues are addressed, growers warn, such disruptions will keep pushing Kashmir\u2019s orchardists deeper into crisis\u2014while authorities continue to look the other way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, authorities\u2019 inaction and the prolonged closure of the Srinagar-Jammu Highway have pushed the Valley\u2019s horticulture sector into one of its worst crises in recent years. According to Kashmir Media Service, despite repeated warnings from growers and trade bodies, IIOJK authorities failed to intervene or provide alternatives as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-183951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir","tag-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/09\/apple-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183951","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=183951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183953,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183951\/revisions\/183953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}