Loud and often hysterical debates on TV screens have jostled with an outpouring of expert opinion since Burhan Wani was shot dead by security forces on 8 July. Many local residents of Kashmir valley along with liberals and human rights activists in India have sought to portray a ‘nuanced’ view of Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen militant, as a sad symbol of the ‘alienation’ of Kashmir from the rest of India. At the other end of ideology, Wani has been described as a terrorist and those ‘sympathetic’ to him and the stone pelters in the valley as insidious agents and tools of Pakistani propaganda. This ‘war’ rages on even as protests and curfews have crippled the valley for more than five weeks.
Amidst all this, hardly any attention has been paid to the devastating impact of all this on the economy of the state and the livelihood of its people. Kashmir and its residents are largely dependent on agriculture related activities and tourism for their livelihoods. Tourism has never really recovered completely since insurgency broke out more than 25 years ago.
This time around, apple growers of the valley are staring at economic ruin because of the prolonged unrest. The size of the apple industry in Kashmir is pegged at Rs 3,000 crore, which is three times bigger than Himachal Pradesh’s apple industry. Apart from apple, pear and grapes crop would also be hit resulting in heavy losses to farmers. The apple dealers association in Kashmir estimates a loss of close to Rs 100 crore this season.
Akbar Parrey, a resident of Pattan tehsil in Baramullah district, who owns more than 5,000 apple trees, is a worried man. “We have invested a lot of money in the farms, and if the situation does not change soon, we would be bankrupt. We have taken loan from banks and advance from traders in Delhi. Just the interest on these loans and advances will ruin our finances,” he says.
According to Parrey, apple farming is very capital intensive. At least four sprays of insecticides and weedicides are required in a season and the cost of these have gone through the roof over the years.
Bashir Khan, an apple grower-cum-trader from Shopian, known as the ‘apple district’ of Kashmir, echoes Parrey. “If the situation continues to remain like this for two to three weeks, the apple business and the people involved in it will go bust,” he says. Because of the curfew in the Valley, the likes of Bashir are unable to get trucks to dispatch apples to the mandis. As a result, boxes of apples have piled up at the farms. “We also have a space crunch at our farms and we cannot keep the initial apples with us because of rains. Besides, other varieties of apples are going to be ready soon,” says Bashir.
Truckers from Kashmir, who managed to arrive in Delhi with apples, say the security situation has made it extremely difficult for them to ply from the state. “Plying in curfew is very dangerous for us as well as our vehicles,” says a truck driver requesting anonymity.
This indefinite shutdown in the Valley has also created uncertainty about employment opportunities for migrant labour from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal who work on apple farms, and as daily wage earners and masons.
The situation in the Valley also has traders in Delhi on tenterhooks. These traders pay huge amounts of money as advance to the apple growers and in the current circumstances, they may find it extremely difficult to recover their money from the growers.
The fruit commission agents and traders at Azadpur mandi in Delhi – touted as the biggest fruit and vegetable market in Asia — are a worried lot these days. Azadpur is the largest market for the apple crop from Kashmir, and a lot is at stake for the traders here who have invested heavily in the apple orchards of Kashmir.
A similar situation had arisen in 2008 and in 2010 when the movement of trucks were hampered due to stone pelting across the valley. Two years ago, floods had destroyed the apple crop in north and south Kashmir.
Says Jaswant Chauhan, a trader at Azadpur mandi: “The curfew has impacted the supply of apples causing the prices to spiral up. Prices of different varieties of apple from Kashmir have gone up significantly. A box of apple that sold at Rs 200-300 last year has been selling at close to Rs 400-600 at present. The end consumer has to pay through their nose.”
Violence always has economic consequences.
haider@businessworld.in
BW Reporters
Haider Ali Khan is an alumnus of IIMC. He holds a degree in English Journalism from the prestigious campus. His passion includes Aviation, Technology, Politics and Sports.
_20240923195307_original_image_32.webp)
_20240511161025original_image_14.webp)
