Apple of discord: How Kashmir lockdown affected the apple trade

For the first time ever, Asia’s second largest fruit market in Sopore, Baramulla in north Kashmir has been shut. The closure, which has coincided with the harvest season for apple, is the direct fallout of the lockdown and communication blockade imposed by the Union government on Jammu and Kashmir after revoking its special status and splitting it into two union territories.

About 75 per cent of apple that India exports is grown in Kashmir. The Rs 8,000 crore business supports 33 lakh people, which is 47 per cent of the population in Kashmir. This include seven lakh growers and their families, transporters, packagers, fertiliser and chemical sellers, commission agents, retail fruit sellers, and labourers who work in apple orchards.

Mindful of the impact of the clampdown and communication blockade on the business, the government of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to buy 12 of the 20 lakh metric tons of apple directly from the farmers under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). Jammu and Kashmir Principle Secretary Rohit Kansal said in a recent press conference that the government, on September 10, has taken the step to ease the troubles faced by the apple farmers.

“If any farmer doesn’t want to sell his crop to the government he is free to do so,’’ Kansal said. When asked by THE WEEK if the scheme would continue every season, Kansal said it would depend on the response of the farmers. The government intervention was also spurred by the attack on four apple growers, including at two-year-old girl, by suspected militants at Sopore for not observing the shutdown against the revocation of Article 370 and 35 A.

Under the MIS, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) would buy apple directly from the farmers and deposit the money in their bank accounts within 24 hours. The NAFED would be assisted in registering the farmers, grading their crop and crediting the money into their accounts by J&K Department of Horticulture, Marketing and Planning (J&KDHMP). The farmers will have to bring their crop to four government designated markets.

An officer of J&KDHMP told THE WEEK that 170 farmers have registered themselves with the department till September 15.

Ghulam Nabi, an apple exporter in Sopore told THE WEEK that in Sopore alone apple farmers have taken Rs 2,000 crore as advance from buyers outside Kashmir. “Can they sell their crop to the government,’’ Nabi said.

Another exporter, who wished to remain anonymous, said even if the growers returned their money, they stand to gain nothing. “We used to earn some profit, that isn’t possible now,’’ he added. “The same goes for buyers outside Kashmir who have given huge advances.”

However, Ghulam Mohiuddin, a grower in Sopore, said he was happy with government decision. “We are not getting the best price, but we are saved from the deliberate rate fluctuations in the markets in Delhi and elsewhere. The buyers used to lend us money in advance but when the fruit would hit the markets in Delhi and elsewhere, the prices would abruptly fall causing losses to us.’’

Adil Hussian, another grower in Achuur, Sopore, said he wouldn’t sell his crop to the government. “We will sell our crop directly to the buyers,” he said.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir government’s MIS was limited to buying only grade C apple of different varieties whose extracts are used for making juices and jams. A middle-rung officer of J&KDHMP said one reason for the muted response so far to MIS is because the open market prices are better. The government has fixed Rs 53 per kg for grade A and Rs 37 for grade B without packing for Delicious variety and Rs 54 and Rs 38 with wood and cardboard packing for the same. The American variety has been offered Rs 48, Rs 32 and Rs 18 for grade A, B and C respectively. For grade A, B and C of Mahraji variety, the prices have been fixed at Rs 40, 25 and 19 respectively with packing. There is a good possibility that more buyers would sell their crop to government because of the prevailing situation.

On the road to Sopore beyond Pattan, 30km from Srinagar, apple orchard on both the sides have fully bloomed. Such a sight repeats itself in the interiors of the township. Like rest of Kashmir, markets are shut and only private vehicles are plying in the affluent township nicknamed Chotta London because of the fruit. Vendors selling vegetable, fruit and eatables on the road and on the hand driven carts are the only signs of business in the pro-separatist territory.

Beyond the Degree College by the road near the razor wire-covered gate of a para-military camp lay the Sopore market. An Armed Personnel Carrier (APC) of the Army stood outside its huge iron gate. The visitors have to pass through security gates to reach the J&KDHMP office, some 100 yards away from the gate, to the right. The sprawling market looks deserted and hollow. The bright sun beating down on it accentuates the feeling of hollowness. During normalcy, the market would bustle with activity and the commission agents used to have a field day. The only sign of life in the market now are the CPRF men, police, officials of J&KDHMP and a group of drivers from Rajasthan squatting on the cement floor. One of them said they have been stuck in the market without work.

“We don’t know what to do now,’’ one of them said. “We cannot even contact our people in Rajasthan nor can we inform those who have sent us here as the mobiles phones have been shut.’’

The impact of the clampdown and communication blockade is so telling on the apple industry that compared to 1,100 trucks that used to leave the market every day after the beginning of of the harvest season in September to different parts of India have been reduced to a trickle—30 to 40 trucks a day.

“We could still have managed respectable numbers if the police and other forces had allowed the market to function after 6pm,’’ said Nabi. “Even during the uprising in 2016, this market remained open without any hassle.’’

The situation in south Kashmir's Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam is equally uncertain for the growers. The fear of being targeted by militants for not abstaining from work due to shutdown is more palpable in the south Kashmir districts of Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama and Anantnag than north Baramulla and Kupwara.

Reports reaching Srinagar said, an apple grower’s packaging material and a few apple trees were burnt by unidentified people to warn him and others from not observing the shutdown. The owner of the orchard reportedly told a news channel that he has no idea who was involved in the incident. According to Nabi, unlike north Kashmir, only 50 per cent growers in south sell their crop to buyers in advance. “The south Kashmir grower is a progressive grower,’’ he said. Most of them are not tempted by getting advance payments. As a result, they get better value for their crop.