Cherry trees in Kashmir are blooming with luscious fruit but despite it farmers are staring at massive losses due to limited demand amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The railways have stepped in to ease farmers’ burden. Jammu and Kashmir officials said they had requested northern railways to help transport Kashmiri cherries from Amritsar.
Manzoor Ahmad Mir, deputy director horticulture planning and marketing, said, “From June 1, the Northern Railways will transport 4-6 metric tons of cherries daily from Amritsar to Delhi and Mumbai. We had requested them to transport the fruits from Jammu but that did not materialize.”
Mir said, “Kashmir has produced approximately 12,000 metric tons of cherry this year. Last year, the number was around 11,700 metric tons. The Valley annually sends around 3,500-4,000 metric tons of the fruit to other states.”
Despite a good produce, famers are a worried lot due to decrease in demand due to closure of markets and difficulties in transporting fruit from farms to the markets amid Covid-19 restrictions.
The market is down and we are not getting a good price for cherries. I received Rs 45-50/kg this year against last year’s Rs 75-90/kg. The shops and markets here are closed,” said Manzoor Ahmad Sheikh, a farmer of Lar Ganderbal in central Kashmir.
There are four types of cherries in Kashmir- Awwal Number, Double, Mishri and Makhmali. The latter two are exported to other states.
“This year we were hoping to get a profit from the cherry crop as the apple produce was affected due to bad weather during flowering. Our livelihood and the education of our children are dependent on this. If something is not done immediately our families will suffer,” Sheikh said.
Apart from the low demand, there are difficulties in transporting the fruit even inside the state triggering fears that the fruit will go bad if not harvested immediately.
“Cherries are extremely perishable with a very brief shelf-life. We are unable to transport fruit as there are no movement passes. Those with passes are alos not able to move freely due to the lockdown,” said Pardeep Singh, whose family owns a farm in north Kashmir’s Baramulla.
Deputy director Manzoor Mir said they had taken up the matter with the Kashmir divisional commissioner. “We have requested the divisional commissioner to prioritise fruit transportation and to ensure fruit trucks do not face any hindrance,” he said.
Cherry are produced on an estimated 2,713 hectares of land in Kashmir and over the years the production has been increasing.
From 8,282 metric tons in 2016-17, production increased to 11,280 metric tons in 2017-18 and to 11,789 in 2018-19.
Not only are the farmers suffering because of low demand and difficulty in transportation, they are also facing logistical issues.