Need of a smarter apple industry?

Some economists say Kashmir’s 70% GDP is based on agriculture and horticulture, and the majority of it is from the apple industry. At the same time, this 70% GDP is linked to one reality that is the smooth, uninterrupted road connectivity to the markets in mainland India.

Srinagar-Jammu national highway is one of the most unpredictable routes, subject to frequent closures because of landslides, rockfalls, flooding, or snow. When this road is blocked for even a week, the ripple effects are devastating. Trucks laden with apples stand stranded for days at vulnerable points. By the time the highway reopens, much of the fruit rots in trucks before reaching to markets. Losses run into crores, hitting farmers, traders, and transporters alike. This is not a new story. Each harvest season, growers pray for a stable highway.

The current model of the apple economy is narrow. More than 70% of Kashmiri apples are sent out in raw form to wholesale markets outside the Valley. Very little consumption and processing takes place locally. There are some cold storage units, mostly private, but their capacity is limited compared to the size of the annual harvest.

This over-reliance on selling raw apples has meant that whenever the highway is blocked, growers have no fallback plan. They cannot divert their fruit elsewhere. They cannot store beyond a few weeks. They cannot process their apples into more durable products that could be sold later. The result is a cycle of frustration that repeats itself every few years.

If Kashmir’s apple industry is to become truly resilient, the current economic model must change. And the change begins by asking a simple but transformative question: If the highway closes for a week or more, can harvested apples and truckloads be immediately shifted to local factories for making juice, pulp, jam, cider, or concentrate?

The answer is not only yes, but also urgent. Setting up a chain of processing units across apple-growing belts (Pulwama, Shopian, and Sopore) can act as a safety net for growers. Let’s break this model in following way. Out of 70% produce that goes to outside markets let us create the high end processing infrastructure that can absorb 35% of the produce. This shouldn’t become an occasional shift tied to highway connectivity but a permanent feature of the economic model. Another 10% can be stored in cold-storage facilities. The rest 25% only should go to the outside markets in the months of October-November when the highway connectivity remains mostly uninterrupted.

Globally, this is not a radical idea. In Europe, nearly half of the apple harvest goes into processing. In countries like Poland, concentrated apple juice is a major export commodity. China, too, processes a large share of its apples into dried slices, vinegar, or cider. By contrast, Kashmir, despite being one of the world’s largest apple-growing regions, processes less than five percent of its annual crop. This is a glaring missed opportunity.

The government’s role is critical. Subsidies, easy loans, and tax incentives can attract entrepreneurs into this sector. Cold storage units should be linked with processing facilities so that apples not fit for long-distance transport can be immediately diverted. Public–private partnerships can be explored, with cooperative societies managing smaller units. If growers themselves are stakeholders in these facilities, they will not only supply raw apples but also share in the profits of value addition.

Equally important is building market linkages for processed products. Apple juice, jams, and concentrates should be branded under a “Kashmir” identity, marketed aggressively, and exported to other states and countries. Once buyers know they can get consistent, high-quality Kashmiri juice or pulp, the industry will no longer be at the mercy of a single highway. Most importantly, the growers should be convinced that sending apples to a local processing plants will benefit them as much as sending them fresh to Delhi, the system will not work.

The road ahead is clear. Kashmir’s apple industry cannot afford to remain tied to the uncertainties of the Jammu–Srinagar highway. The Valley must develop the capacity to process a significant portion of its crop locally.

If realized with vision, this will save growers from devastating losses during highway closures, and will also create jobs, boost rural incomes, and open new export markets.

The shift will not happen overnight. It requires vision, investment, and coordination between government, private players, and farmers. But the first step is to accept that the current model—built on a fragile dependence on a single road—is unsustainable.

In every crisis lies an opportunity. Highway closures need not mean despair for apple growers. With timely investment in processing units, they can be converted into opportunities to create new products, new markets, and new livelihoods. Instead of watching apples rot in stranded trucks, Kashmir can watch them flow into local factories, emerge as juice or pulp, and find their way to consumers across India and beyond.

If the apple is truly the pride of Kashmir, then the Valley owes it to itself to treat this fruit with the intelligence and respect it deserves. That means building an industry that is not only bigger, but smarter.

Dr. Ashraf Zainabi is a teacher and researcher based in Gowhar Pora Chadoora J&K