Fruit Growers in Distress: Orchardists rally for MIS revival amidst C-grade apple crisis

Srinagar, Oct 4: Fruit growers in Kashmir Valley are urging the government to revive the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) in light of this year’s significant proportion of low-grade (C-grade) apple produce.

The valley, renowned for its apples, has faced a challenging agricultural season due to incessant rains during the flowering stage and prolonged dry spells during the summer and autumn. These adverse weather conditions have given rise to scab disease and have negatively impacted the size and colour of the apples.

According to fruit growers, the MIS, initially implemented during the Late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed government, provided essential support to farmers by guaranteeing a minimum price for their produce, even if it was damaged for any reason.

President, All Kashmir Fruit Growers Union, Bashir Ahmad Basheer said that under this scheme, the government purchased all subpar products at a minimum cost, ensuring that high-quality produce was still accessible outside of Jammu and Kashmir.

“This year, an estimated 30-40% of the apple harvest has been categorized as C-grade due to the weather-related challenges faced by the farmers. Despite sending several appeals to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) administration, no concrete action has been taken on the ground to reinstate the MIS scheme.”

Javid Ahmad, a concerned farmer said “Horticulture is a cornerstone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy. However, unfavourable weather conditions this year have taken a toll on the industry, leading to a decline in output and product quality,”

Fruit growers associations are now collectively urging the LG administration to take swift action and reinstate the MIS scheme to provide the necessary support and protection to the growers during this challenging period. The reinstatement of the MIS scheme is seen as a lifeline for farmers struggling with the aftermath of a challenging agricultural season. As the apple orchards of Kashmir await government intervention, the hope is that a revived MIS scheme will not only alleviate the woes of fruit growers but also bolster the resilience of this vital sector in the region’s economy.

Each year, 8.50 crore man-days are generated through horticulture.

J&K, particularly Kashmir valley, has been rightly described as the ‘land of fruits’ as well as the ‘fruit bowl’ of Northern India.

Horticulture is an important contributor to SGDP with a share of about 9.5 percent.

The growth graph of the horticulture sector in J&K has shown a tremendous spike with 10,000 metric tonnes of production in 1950 to 25 lakh metric tonnes of production in 2020. J&K has been declared an Agri Export Zone for apples and walnuts.

Seventy percent of the total apple production and 90 percent of dry fruit production in the country comes from J&K.

The fruit crops grown in J&K are apple, pear, cherry, walnut, almond, chestnut, strawberry, stone fruits and grapes in temperate areas and mango, citrus, guava, litchi, berries, grapes, and oranges in subtropical areas.

Apple, the major fruit crop of J&K, is more concentrated in the districts of the Kashmir region with a meagre share also coming out from the temperate areas of the Jammu region.

Among the districts of the Kashmir region, Baramulla is the frontrunner both in terms of area (25,231 hectares) as well as production of the apple (4,04,089 metric tonnes) followed by Kupwara and Shopian districts.

Pear, the next major fresh fruit crop is grown almost throughout the entire J&K, however, the major share of the production base comes from the temperate Kashmir region where some good cultivars of the crop are grown with longer shelf life.