Kashmir’s apple industry, valued at over Rs 15,000 crore annually, is facing a storm of climate shocks andinfrastructural failures. Unseasonal hailstorms and highway blockades are destroying harvests, while asevere shortage of cold storage is forcing farmers into distress sales. The crisis puts the livelihoods of 3.5million people at risk, exposing the valley’s economic vulnerability. Sagar Firdous reports
In the orchards of South Kashmir’s Shopian, the heartland of Kashmir’s fabled apple belt, a deep unease has replaced the annual harvest fervour.The air, usually thick with the sweet scentof ripening fruit and the bustling sounds of packing and transport, is now laced with anxiety. The apples are here crimson, glossy, and abundant but the future they represent is increasingly uncertain.
For generations, the apple has been more than just a fruit in Kashmir; it is the cornerstone of its rural economy, a cultural touchstone, and the primary source of livelihood for an estimated 3.5 million people. The industry, often dubbed the valley’s “red gold,” boasts an annual production of over 2 million metric tonnes and contributes a staggering 10% to Jammu & Kashmir’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). From the delicate Ambri of Pulwama to the robust American Trel of Shopian, the valleys produce a diverse range of varieties that feed markets from Delhi to Dubai.
Yet, this year, the sheen of the harvest belies a multi-layered crisis. A series of interconnected shocks of climatic, logistical, and infrastructural have pushed this $2 billion-plus industry to a precipice. The very factors that have long sustained it are now turning into its greatest vulnerabilities.
The troubles began early. In a cruel twist of fate, unseasonal hailstorms in late spring battered the blossoms in key districts, significantly impacting the potential yield of premium varieties. This was followed not by a period of recovery, but by torrential rainfall during the critical preharvest period.
“The climate is no longer our ally; it has become our biggest adversary,” says Ghulam Mohammad Lone, a thirdgeneration orchardist in Shopian. “We have the knowledge passed down from our fathers, but their wisdom cannot account for these new, violent weather patterns.
” But the challenges do not end in the orchard. Once harvested, the fruit embarks on a perilous 700-kilometre journey to the mainland’s mandis, entirely dependent on a single, fragile lifeline: the Jammu Srinagar National Highway. Frequent and prolonged blockades due to landslides turn this artery into a parking lot, with perishable cargo rotting in thousands of stranded trucks. Compounding this logistical nightmare is a shortage of cold storage facilities within the Valley, leaving farmers with no buffer against these disruptions.
The story of Kashmir’s apple industry is no longer just one of picturesque orchards and abundant harvests but a stark narrative of a colossal economic engine under threat, where the struggles of a single farmer in Shopian echo the precarious fate of an entire valley. This is the story of a bitter harvest, and of the fight to save Kashmir’s most vital crop from a perfect storm of crises.
Jammu and Kashmir is the largest appleproducing state in India, accounting for nearly 75% of the country’s total production of 2.9 million metric tonnes (MMT) as per the Ministry of Agriculture &m Farmers’ Welfare. The Union Territory’s annual production hovers around 2.1 to 2.3 MMT, with the Kashmir Valley responsible for over 90% of this output.
According to a 2024 report by the Directorate of Horticulture, Kashmir, the apple economy is valued at approximately ₹15,000-17,000 crore annually. This figure, however, only captures the primary trade. When ancillary industries packaging, transportation, cold storage, and the massive seasonal labour force are factored in, the true economic impact is far greater.
“The apple industry is the bedrock of Kashmir’s rural economy,” an agricultural economist told Kashmir Magazine. “It is not an exaggeration to say that a bad apple season sends shockwaves through the entire valley, affecting liquidity in local markets, loan repayment capabilities, and overall economic sentiment. Its contribution to the GSDP is direct and profound.”
The industry’s strength lies in its diversity of varieties, which cater to different markets and timelines which include Ambri, unique, late-maturing indigenous variety known for its long shelf life, Maharaji, an early season apple that commands a premium, American Trel (Red Delicious), the workhorse of the industry, comprising the bulk of the harvest, Gala and Fuji, newer, high-density plantation varieties gaining popularity.
This “red gold” has historically insulated Kashmir from deeper economic distress. But that insulation is now wearing thin.
The first and most visceral blows are being landed by a changing climate. The spring of 2025 was a testament to this new, brutal reality.
In late April, when apple trees across the Valley were in full bloom, a delicate stage critical for pollination and fruit setting severe hailstorms lashed the districts of Shopian, Kulgam, and Pulwama. The hailstones shredded the delicate blossoms and young fruitlets.
“In one hour, a year’s worth of hope was pounded into the mud,” recalls Abdul Majid Lone from Shopian. “The ground was white, not with snow, but with shattered blossoms. The loss was almost 30% in my orchard for the premium varieties.” Before farmers could recover from this shock, the monsoon period brought another calamity: unprecedented torrential rainfall in August and September triggered multiple landslides along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH44), blocking the valley’s sole surface link to the rest of India for over a week. This turned the vital artery into a parking lot for thousands of apple-laden trucks. With their perishable cargo trapped, farmers and transporters watched in despair as the fruit, sitting in stationary containers, began to over-ripen, soften, and rot. The financial losses ran into crores, underscoring the industry’s extreme vulnerability to disruptions on a single,fragile lifeline.
Data from the Indian MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) in Srinagar confirms a trend. The Valley has witnessed a 15% increase in intense rainfall events during the pre-harvest period (August-September) over the last decade. Similarly, unseasonal hailstorms have become more frequent and intense, a pattern climatologists link to global warming and changing atmospheric patterns.
If the climate crisis begins the assault, then Kashmir’s infrastructural deficit ensures
it becomes a catastrophe. The industry operates on two critical, and chronically deficient, fronts: transportation and storage.
Every apple not consumed locally must travel the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH44). This 270-km stretch of road, snaking through treacherous mountains and prone to landslides, is the industry’s sole overland lifeline to the rest of India. A blockade on this highway, which can last for days or even weeks, is a death sentence for perishable cargo.
In September 2025, a major landslide at the Ramban section halted traffic for more than a week. The images of thousands of apple-laden trucks stranded in a seemingly endless queue became a symbol of the industry’s vulnerability.
While the government has promoted the railway as an alternative, its capacity remains a fraction of what is required. As per official data, between September 11 and 21, 2025, the Indian Railways dispatched 19 special apple trains from Budgam, Anantnag, and Baramulla, carrying 5,42,699 boxes. While a positive
step, this volume represents less than 5% of the Valley’s daily output during peak season. The highway continues to carry over 95% of the produce.
This logistical gamble is compounded by an almost criminal lack of modern cold storage facilities within Kashmir. The industry produces nearly 10 lakh metric tons of A-grade apples annually, which are ideal for long-term storage and staggered marketing. However, the Valley has a severe shortage of Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage units, which regulate temperature, humidity, and gas composition to preserve fruit for months.
The existing storage capacity is estimated to be around 2.5 lakh metric tonnes, falling
woefully short of the demand. What little exists is often inaccessible to small and marginal farmers.
“We don’t have CA storage facilities here,” laments Fayaz Ahmad Dar, a grower from Sopore. “Even if some units exist in big towns, small growers like me can’t afford their rates or secure space during the peak season rush. We are forced to make a distress sale immediately after harvest, when the market is flooded and prices are at their lowest.”
The problem is even more acute for lower-grade (C-grade) apples, which constitute a good portion of the harvest. In the absence of fruit processing units for making juice, concentrate, or cider, these apples often have no market and are left to rot in orchards or dumped, representing a massive economic waste.
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, a grower and trader from Bandipora, states the problem bluntly: “The volume of fruit has increased, especially with high-density plantations, but infrastructure has not kept pace. We need at least 100 more CA storage units in the Valley immediately, along with multiple processing plants. Without them, increased production is a curse, not a blessing.”
At the heart of this multi-pronged crisis is a policy vacuum. Apple growers operate in a near-completely unregulated market, exposed to volatile price fluctuations without any safety net.
The two most significant demands from the farming community, a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a formal export policy have remained unaddressed for decades.
Unlike staple food crops, horticulture produce has no MSP. The price is determined by traders in Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi, the largest fruit and vegetable market in Asia, based on supply and demand. This leaves Kashmiri farmers at the mercy of a chain of middlemen.
“Every season, we end up selling at throwaway prices because we can’t store the apples,” says Abdul Majid Lone. “The government talks about schemes, but on the ground, there is no mechanism to ensure a fair, stable price. A guaranteed MSP would give us the confidence to invest in better practices and withstand
market gluts.”
Despite producing world-class fruit, Kashmir’s presence in the international export market is negligible. A coherent, government-backed export strategy is absent. Complex phytosanitary certification processes, a lack of brand building, and inadequate air cargo facilities from Srinagar airport hinder access to lucrative markets in the Middle East and Europe.
“We have the quality, but we lack the platform,” says a representative from the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-CumDealers Union. “The government needs to actively negotiate with importing
countries, establish streamlined certification labs at the source, and subsidize air freight to make our exports competitive. Apple from Iran and Turkey reach Dubai faster and cheaper than from Srinagar, which is a tragedy.” The question hangs in the autumn air, unanswered. The fate of Kashmir’s apple industry is a test, one that will determine whether the valley’s largest economic enterprise will adapt and thrive, or become the next casualty of a changing world.
