You can’t eat a shikara! 10 reasons why Kashmir should prioritise agriculture over tourism

By: Dr Sanjay Parva

Kashmir’s policymakers remain hypnotized by the romanticism of tourism. But here’s the bitter truth: you can’t feed a population on tulip selfies, shikara rides, or Instagram reels from Gulmarg. What Kashmir needs isn’t more Gandola projects. It needs an agriculture revolution.

Below are 10 brutal truths why Kashmir must prioritize agriculture over tourism.

1. Tourism Employs Fewer, Agriculture Feeds All

Data: Agriculture employs 60% of Kashmir’s workforce, tourism barely employs 7–8%, largely seasonal.

While tourists come and go, food must be grown daily. Agriculture provides year-round employment to rural families, whereas tourism creates fragile, low-paying service jobs, often concentrated in urban or semi-urban clusters like Srinagar or Pahalgam.

2. Fragile Ecosystem Cannot Bear Tourism Overload

Stat: In 2023, over 2 crore tourists visited Kashmir. But the valley has a carrying capacity of only 50–60 lakh annually, as per environmental studies.

Excessive tourism is straining water resources, causing solid waste overload, and eroding biodiversity. Rice paddies are being converted into parking lots. Orchards give way to hotels. This is slow suicide.

3. Kashmir Still Imports What It Can Grow

Fact: Kashmir imports over 70% of its vegetables in winter and nearly 90% of pulses.

Despite fertile land, poor agri-planning has made us dependent on Punjab and UP for food. A tourism-dependent economy doesn’t fix this – it aggravates it by diverting land and labor from farms to resorts.

4. Food Security is National Security

Warning: Climate events like the 2014 floods and 2022 dry spells have shown how vulnerable Kashmir is.

India is moving toward climate-resilient farming, yet Kashmir lacks grain buffers, irrigation grids, or controlled-environment agriculture. In a geo-politically sensitive region, ignoring agriculture is a national risk.

5. Tourism Doesn’t Trickle Down to Marginalized Villages

Survey: 80% of Kashmir’s tourist revenue is cornered by less than 10% of stakeholders – mostly hoteliers, travel agencies, and city-based investors.

Villages like Khag, Chandoosa, and Khansahib are invisible in Kashmir’s tourism map. But these same villages could be powerhouses of organic farming, dairy, poultry, or medicinal herbs.

6. Apple Is Still Kashmir’s GDP Backbone

Numbers: Horticulture contributes Rs 10,000 crore annually, while tourism contributed around Rs 3,500 crore in 2023.

Why are we chasing the lesser revenue stream? Apple, almond, cherry, and walnut farming – when supported by cold chains and export linkages – can dwarf the entire tourism economy.

7. Agri-Processing Can Create Real Jobs

NABARD Report: Agri-based industries can generate 10x more rural jobs per crore of investment than tourism.

Agro-industrial zones (packaging units, canning plants, seed banks) are under 10% utilized in Kashmir. Tourism can’t absorb surplus rural youth, but agri-processing and value addition can.

8. Sustainable Farming Builds Self-Reliance

Study: Kashmir’s per capita agricultural land availability is 0.62 hectares, higher than the national average of 0.48.

Yet, land fragmentation, absentee landlordism, and conversion to tourism-use is bleeding this potential. Organic farming, precision irrigation, and FPOs can revive land value and food independence.

9. Tourism is Vulnerable to Politics & Pandemics

Reality Check: Kashmir lost Rs 1,160 crore in tourism due to the 2019 clampdown and Rs 3,200 crore more during COVID-19.

Agriculture never shuts down. It’s recession-proof, curfew-resilient, and conflict-tested. In Kashmir’s volatile ecosystem, relying on tourism is gambling with economic stability.

10. Farmers Build Nations, Not Tourists

Wisdom: No country has ever become strong by pampering its tourists. It becomes strong by respecting its farmers.

J&K’s GSDP contribution from agriculture has shrunk from 29% in 1990 to less than 12% in 2022. This systemic neglect is pushing us toward an economic cliff. Kashmir must shift gears – from hospitality to harvest.

Conclusion

The glitter of tourism is blinding our policy vision. Short-term tourist booms distract us from long-term sustainability. Kashmir’s future lies not in becoming the next Switzerland for tourists, but in becoming the next Himachal or Sikkim in agricultural innovation.

It’s time to ask: Do we want to be remembered as a land of farmers or a land of waiters?

Because tourists don’t build civilizations. Farmers do.

An author, a communications strategist, Dr Sanjay Parva was a debut contestant from 28-Beerwah 2024 Assembly Constituency. Email: [email protected]