Kashmir fruit growers seek strong budgetary support, compensation for 2025 losses
Srinagar, Jan 23: The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has sought substantial budgetary support for the horticulture sector in the Budget Estimates for 2026–27, citing heavy losses due to natural disasters, infrastructure bottlenecks and long-pending policy gaps that continue to push fruit growers into distress.
In a detailed representation submitted by the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union, highlighted that horticulture remains the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy, directly or indirectly sustaining more than seven lakh families. The Union urged the government to make adequate financial provisions in the forthcoming budget to stabilise the sector and protect growers from recurring shocks.
The Union demanded a comprehensive compensation package for losses suffered during the devastating deluge of 2025. It recalled that natural disasters in August–September 2025, coupled with the prolonged closure of the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway for over 20 days, left thousands of fruit-laden trucks stranded. Large quantities of harvested fruit remained piled up in orchards and mandis, unable to reach markets outside the UT, while supply chains were badly disrupted. The losses to fruit growers were estimated at around ₹2,000 crore, for which adequate compensation has been sought in the 2026–27 budget.
The representation also called for the immediate implementation of a crop insurance scheme for horticulture on the lines of the agriculture sector. Though announced earlier, the scheme has not been implemented so far, leaving fruit growers vulnerable during natural calamities. The Union urged the government to earmark sufficient funds to operationalise the scheme.
Re-introduction of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) was another key demand. The Union pointed out that over 40 per cent of the apple crop each season falls under Grade-C and fallen apple categories, resulting in major losses. Under the earlier MIS, Grade-C apples were procured by the government at fixed rates, offering relief to growers. The discontinuation of the scheme, it said, has aggravated grower distress.
The Union further sought the establishment of separate horticulture estates on the pattern of industrial estates, with facilities such as CA stores, cold stores, canning units and juice plants under a single-window system. It also pressed for setting up 150–200 CA and cold stores across the Valley, particularly in North Kashmir, on a cooperative basis with subsidy support.
Other demands included a subsidy on packaging material, such as tray-based cardboard boxes on the Himachal Pradesh model and a ban on silicate-based cardboard boxes citing health concerns; treating tree spray oil as an agricultural product; a subsidy on fertilisers and pesticides and promotion of organic fertilisers; and establishment of modern testing laboratories in all districts.
The Union also sought enhanced funding for horticulture tools, waiver of Kisan Credit Card loans for marginal growers, exemption of interest on cash credit limits, introduction of irrigation facilities in Karewa areas, upgradation of fruit mandis across the Valley, and regulation of storage charges in CA and cold stores.
Expressing hope from the forthcoming budget, the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union said meaningful financial and policy support is essential to revive the horticulture sector, safeguard livelihoods and ensure economic stability in J&K.
