SNOWED UNDER
Unseasonal heavy snow and the lockdown in the Valley have crippled farmers
Muneer Hussain is a desperate man today. The 42-year-old Shopian apple farmer has a hundred-odd trees in his small orchard and, in a normal year, harvests about 1,500 boxes of apples. This season, though, the snow has fallen ahead of schedule and has ruined everything. “Only 15 trees are safe, the rest have suffered irreparable damage,” says a dejected Hussain. “I looked after this orchard like my child for the past two decades. I never expected this.”
A vast network of apple, cherry and almond orchards spread over 164,000 hectares was buried under more than three feet of snow, the heaviest in November for some years now. The damage is worse for two reasons—there were delays in plucking fruit and pruning the trees after militants issued warnings. Managing the tree architecture is vital to allow trees to bear the load of snow or fruit. The second reason was the internet blackout. Mushtaq Ahmad in Baramulla says, “Usually, my son would keep track of the weather through the internet. But it has been suspended for the past three months and the forecasts did not reach us.”
The lockdown after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 and the recent militant attacks and killings had delayed the harvest and disrupted the apple trade, but it had been picking up of late. Growers say they could have recouped the losses next year, but the natural calamity has ruined them. Fresh saplings will have to be planted, which could take a decade to bear fruit.
The Rs 10,000 crore horticulture industry is a major contributor to the local economy, involving 700,000 families or 3.5 million people (47 per cent of the population) directly or indirectly. A single tree yields 5-50 boxes of apples, depending on its lifespan. “It takes 20 years for a tree to mature. So this is going to hit a generation,” says Ghulam Hassan, who owns a 2.5 acre spread. Initially, the state horticulture department pegged the overall losses to orchards at around 30-35 per cent, but the farmers disagree. Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, president of the Fruit Growers and Zamindars Association, says the survey defies logic as most orchards have just a few trees standing now.
Last year, too, untimely snow had led to losses of about Rs 500 crore. But then the administration announced relief. Farmers were paid a minimum Rs 4,000 or Rs 1,800 per kanal and Rs 36,000 per hectare. They were also to get crop insurance, but that is yet to happen. “Weather-based insurance was our main demand during the meeting with the chief secretary last year,” says Sheikh Ashiq, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “But nothing has happened so far and the farmers will now have to bear the losses. This will affect them for years now.”
Deputy director, horticulture, Javid Ahmad Bhat admits the damage is worse than it was last year but maintains the loss is around 35 per cent. An accurate door-to-door survey of affected farmers will be conducted within a couple of weeks. But compensation, for now, is impossible as it requires big money, says Bhat. “We will frame some schemes for the farmers,” he adds. The J&K government has invited tenders for the much-delayed insurance scheme on November 16. The insurance firms, according to Bhat, were seeking higher premiums, which delayed the implementation of the scheme. ■