Now Reading: Highway closures rot Kashmir apple crop, growers seek alternatives
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Highway closures rot Kashmir apple crop, growers seek alternatives
Frequent closures of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during the apple harvest season are causing heavy losses for Kashmir growers, with fruit rotting in stranded trucks. Bashir Ahmad Basheer of the Kashmir Valley…
The Story in Brief
Frequent closures of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during the apple harvest season are causing heavy losses for Kashmir growers, with fruit rotting in stranded trucks. Bashir Ahmad Basheer of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-cum-Dealers Union said a truck usually takes 15-18 hours to reach Delhi, but closures can stretch the journey to weeks, ruining over half the load. Official data shows the highway was closed for 284 days between 2018 and 2024.
Last year's industry losses were estimated at Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 crore. A NABARD study for 2020-22 found 9.51 per cent of Kashmir's apple output is lost post-harvest. Growers say alternative routes like Mughal Road are unsuitable for heavy trucks. Indian Railways' parcel trains offer some relief, but farmers demand dedicated loading facilities and more services during the peak season from August to November.
The Indian Opinion
The tale of rotting apples is a yearly ritual that exposes a deeper failure. Politicians promise alternate routes and cold storage, yet the Mughal Road remains too narrow for laden trucks and CA storage capacity falls short. The government must answer one question: when will dedicated railway loading points at Sopore and Anantnag become operational, and how many additional parcel trains will run this peak season? A concrete timeline, not another study, will tell if this year's losses are the last.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
