Growers plead for train freight services and unhindered Mughal Road access amid NH44 shutdown
By: Naseer Ahmed – Ziraat Times
Shopian/Srinagar: As Kashmir reels from floods and infrastructural damage this season, the fruit season has turned into a symbol of the region’s fragile economy — one that depends on a single unreliable highway.
Every year, as the orchards in South Kashmir glow red and green with apples, the Valley’s rural economy comes alive. But this year, instead of celebration, despair fills the air. Hundreds of fruit-laden trucks are stranded on damaged highways, their precious cargo of apples and pears rotting inside.
At Shopian’s main fruit mandi, Mohammad Ashraf, president of the traders’ association, surveys stacks of unsold boxes. “We are helpless. By the time trucks reach Delhi or Amritsar, the fruit is mush. Buyers refuse to unload without advance payment, and when they see the condition, they simply send the trucks back. Growers are being ruined,” he says, his voice heavy with frustration.
“Our fruit is turning into waste”
The closure of NH44, Kashmir’s only all-weather road link to the rest of India, has left nearly 500 trucks stranded. Those that do move crawl for days through landslide-prone stretches, only to reach mandis with half the produce spoiled.
Shabir Ahmad, a small orchardist from Kulgam, says he has already lost half his season’s income. “We sent a truck with 300 boxes of Gala apples to Azadpur mandi in Delhi. By the time it reached, 200 boxes were unsellable. The commission agent called me crying, saying he couldn’t even recover the transport cost. All my hard work of the year turned into waste,” he laments.
Gala apples and Babgosh pears, both highly perishable, are the worst affected.
Truck drivers caught in the middle
Truckers, too, are bearing the brunt. Ramesh Kumar, a driver from Punjab, is stranded near Qazigund with a loaded truck. “The growers are shouting at us, the buyers are shouting at us. But what can we do? The road is closed. We can’t unload without payment, and no one wants to pay for rotten fruit. We are stuck in the middle,” he says, sitting on his idle vehicle.
Buyers turn away spoiled consignments
In Delhi’s Azadpur mandi, one of Asia’s largest fruit markets, commission agents confirm the crisis. Harpreet Singh, a buyer, says, “Kashmiri apples have always been in demand, but now trucks arrive late and the fruit is half spoiled. Who will buy it? We return the trucks or pay a fraction of the value. It is sad because the quality of the fruit is excellent when fresh.”
Demands for urgent intervention
Growers and traders are now pressing the government to act immediately. Their main demands are train freight services for Kashmir fruit to major mandis like Delhi, Amritsar, and Mumbai to bypass the vulnerable highways and unhindered movement on the Mughal Road, including clearance for larger trucks, to create an alternative supply line.
Ashraf of Shopian mandi warns that the stakes are high. “If this continues, not only will this year’s harvest be destroyed, but farmers will lose faith in the system. Many will not be able to repay loans. The government must wake up before it is too late.”
An economy in peril
Horticulture is the backbone of Kashmir’s rural economy, engaging over 3.5 million people and contributing nearly 8% to Jammu & Kashmir’s GDP. But with recurring highway blockades, erratic weather, and increasing competition from imported apples, growers say their margins have been shrinking year after year.
“Our apples are our pride and our bread. But what use is pride when we can’t even get them to market?” asks Shabir Ahmad, watching his bruised apples being dumped by laborers at the mandi.
For many growers, this harvest season may decide not just their year, but their future.
