The frequent closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway is taking a heavy toll on fruit growers and traders in southern Shopian and Pulwama districts.
“One of my fruit trucks reached Delhi almost three weeks late and around 50 percent of the fruit had turned rotten,” said a fruit grower from Shopian.
Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, president of the fruit growers association said around 25 to 30 percent of the total fruit is “still lying in various cold stores in Kashmir”.
Many growers and traders did not export their fruit from November to January owing to exorbitant fares charged by transporters, he said, adding: “For a box of apple to be transported to Delhi, they (transporters) charged Rs 100 to 120 during these months, as against ideal rates of Rs 60 to Rs 70 per-box.”
Malik said that orchardists suffered huge losses despite having a bumper crop this year. “It is both due to vagaries of weather and government’s indifference towards the fruit industry,” Malik added.
Arif Muhammad Mir, who runs a CA store at Lassipora, Pulwama, said around 300,000 apple crates were presently stored in his facility: “In next few weeks, the weather outside J&K would change. It would be hotter there and consequently it will reduce the shelf life of fruit. It will be then more difficult to ferry the fruit to different mandis.”
in the Shopian district alone, the snowfall caused damage to around 40 to 45 percent fruit while in Pulwama, this figure was around 20 to 25 percent.
