On average each day in October, only 3,200 tons of apples came from Kashmir to Azadpur Mandi compared to 18,250 tons in the same period last year. Apple export from Jammu and Kashmir has seen a sharp decline after 12 non-local civilians, including traders, have been killed in a series of militant attacks across the Valley since 14 October.
According to the daily data of Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi, which is Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables, there has been a 44 percent decline in the quantity of apples arriving from Kashmir in the last week of October (from 24 to 31) compared to the previous week.
While 26,969 tons of apples had arrived in the last week of October, the figure stood at 47,900 tons in the week prior to it (16-23 October). From 8-15 October, 24,031 tons had arrived, and 18,943 tons were recorded from 1-7 October at the mandi.
“After the attacks, a lot of trucks which were heading towards the Valley on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, were stopped for about a week which resulted in a decline of apple export,” Vijay Singh of the Kashmiri Apple Merchant Association in Delhi told ThePrint. Also some truckers have refused to carry apples in and out of the Valley after these attacks.”
