Kashmir’s fruit economy, worth thousands of crores and sustaining lakhs of families, has once again been brought to its knees. The August 2025 deluge and the crippling, weeks-long closure of the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway exposed a brutal truth: the Valley’s horticulture sector remains dangerously unprotected, structurally fragile and overly dependent on a single transport corridor. The losses estimated at ₹2,000 crore represent livelihoods shattered, debts deepened and a pillar of Kashmir’s rural economy pushed to the brink.
The demands raised by the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union (KVFG Union) are neither exaggerated nor unreasonable. They are, in fact, the bare minimum that a state so vulnerable to climate shocks should already have in place.
A ₹2,000-crore relief package is not charity but compensation for real, documented loss. The absence of any announcement from either the Centre or the J&K administration, even months after the disaster, is deeply concerning. For a sector that contributes massively to the state’s GDP, the silence is unjustifiable.
Equally critical is the Union’s call for crop insurance for horticulture, a long-delayed necessity. Apple growers face recurrent weather disasters, from hailstorms to untimely snow to floods, yet they remain without the insurance protections routinely extended to other agricultural sectors. Reviving crop insurance is essential for financial stability and climate resilience.
The blockade has reaffirmed another long-standing demand: alternative transport routes. Declaring the Mughal Road a National Highway, improving road infrastructure, and reducing overreliance on the Srinagar–Jammu corridor are vital to prevent future economic shutdowns. Similarly, expanding cold/CA storage capacity is indispensable for preserving the crop during transport disruptions.
Measures like KCC loan waivers, interest relief, MIS revival, removal of municipal chungi, and ensuring availability of quality pesticides and fertilizers directly address the financial stress growers face. These interventions can restore confidence in a sector that has endured crisis after crisis with little systemic support.
The KVFG Union’s 14-point charter is a blueprint for safeguarding Kashmir’s horticulture. The government must respond, not with symbolic assurances but with concrete action. This moment should be treated not as a routine appeal but as a wake-up call to rebuild, insure, and strengthen the very backbone of Kashmir’s rural economy.
Kashmir’s growers are not asking for favours. They are demanding fairness, protection, and the right to recover. They deserve nothing less.
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