Srinagar: The season that should have brought prosperity to Kashmir’s apple growers has, instead, turned into a story of despair and indebtedness for many of them this year.
Take the case of farmers like Mushtaq Ahmad and Brothers from Kulgam, who recently sold 60 apple boxes at a mandi in Rajasthan, have come away with barely enough to cover transportation costs.
According to the brothers, what should have fetched them between ₹1,200 and ₹1,500 per box yielded only ₹487, ₹350 and ₹495 per box. After deductions for transport, labour and other expenses, the net proceeds amounted to ₹20,726, far below their production costs.
“This is not we expected. We are small farmers. All we wanted to get enough returns to cover our KCC loan, production costs and some of the familt expenses” said Tariq Ahmad, adding that they had invested heavily in fertilizers, pesticides and packaging material, hoping to recover at least the costs. “Instead, we are going back home empty-handed”, Tariq says showing the sale proceed bill received from the buyer
Farmers caught between market stress and middlemen
This plight is not unique to one family. Across Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag Budgam and Baramulla districts, growers report similar distress sales. Many blame middlemen and commission agents at mandis who, they say, charge significant processing fees, eroding the already thin margins.
Growers’ associations argue that frequent closures of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, delays in transportation, and damage to crops during transit have worsened the crisis.
“The accumulated stock in mandis means buyers dictate the price, not the growers,” said Ghulam Nabi, another farmer from Shopian, who sold 200 boxes for nearly half the expected rate.
Traders also in trouble
Even traders who had advanced payments to farmers earlier in the season are facing losses.
“We bought produce at higher rates in August, expecting good market prices. But with the slump, we can’t recover our investment,” said Bashir Ahmad, a trader in Sopore.
Loan burden adding to the crisis
Adding to the farmers’ woes is the burden of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans and other agricultural borrowings. With this year’s losses, many farmers fear they will default on repayments in 2025 and 2026.
“Banks will not understand our misery,” said a distressed grower from Anantnag. “We are staring at debt traps and possible loan recovery proceedings.”
And this is not the case only of one or two farmers. Agricultural loans have been availed by lakhs of farmers in Kashmir, many of them will be unable to pay their installments due to this season’s loss.
Analysts estimate that the loan burden could be in the range of Rs 500- Rs 700 crore.
Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has estimated the loss to farmers to the tune of Rs 700 crore until now. And worse may yet to come when more transportation disruption could happen on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Farmers and traders alike are demanding urgent government intervention, including minimum support prices, loan restructuring and better transport infrastructure. Without such measures, experts warn, Kashmir’s famed apple industry, which employs over 3.5 million people, faces long-term damage.
“The government talks of apple exports and industry modernization,” said Dr. Syed Irfan, an agriculture analyst. “But unless accountability is fixed and farmers are protected from exploitation, the entire sector risks collapse.”
For now, in many orchards across Kashmir, hope has turned into despair. Families who once relied on apple sales to pay for education, marriages and household needs are now counting losses and debts.
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