By; Ambreen Khan – Ziraat Times
Srinagar: As thousands of tonnes of Kashmiri apples rotted on highways this harvest season after trucks remained stranded for days in the sun, farmers and experts are locked in debate over the reasons behind the quick spoilage and what packaging practices the industry must adopt in the future.
Growers say that apples stuck in trucks for anywhere between five to twelve days had little chance of surviving the harsh September heat.
“Apples are perishable. If they don’t reach mandis on time and remain in sun without refrigeration, they are bound to rot,” said Abdul Majid, a grower from Shopian.
Scientists point out that at high temperatures, apples respire faster, ripen prematurely and become susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections — making long highway delays a primary cause of losses.
But beyond the delays, another debate is brewing in Kashmir’s orchards and markets: the shift from traditional wooden poplar boxes lined with dry paddy grass to lightweight cardboard cartons. Some farmers argue that the traditional packaging acted as both an insulator against heat and a shock absorber against bruising. “In wooden boxes, fruit could withstand stress. In cartons, it softens, collapses and spoils faster,” said Nazir Ahmad, a trader at Parimpora Fruit Mandi.
Scientists agree that packaging makes a significant difference. Wooden boxes with grass provided ventilation, cushioning and strength under stacking. Cardboard cartons, though cheaper and easier to transport, are less heat-resistant, absorb moisture, and can collapse when stacked for long periods. Research shows that poor packaging can reduce apple shelf life under stress conditions.
The crisis has revived calls for a review of packaging practices in Kashmir.
Should growers return to wooden boxes? Some argue that the solution lies not in going back but in moving forward — investing in modern ventilated plastic crates, pre-cooling facilities, reefer trucks and greater controlled-atmosphere storage. Others believe that until such infrastructure is widely available, wooden boxes remain the safer bet for long-distance transport.
Farooq Ahmed, a progressive farmer frok Kulgam, summed up the dilemma: “Cardboard was introduced to reduce costs and meet interstate packaging norms, but the climate realities and highway delays mean we may need to rethink. Either the highway bottlenecks are fixed and cold-chain facilities are built, or we must go back to stronger packaging that protects our fruit.”
For Kashmir’s apple farmers, this year’s losses have highlighted a harsh reality — without reliable transport and resilient packaging, even the finest produce may not survive the journey from orchard to market.
