You have, perhaps, relished the red, juicy apples from
Kashmir, but chances are you have never tasted those grown in nearby Jammu
because they’re not available in the market. You will get to soon.
About 5-6 villages in the Latti-Dhuna area, nestled
about 150 km away from Jammu amid the mountains in Udhampur district, have also
— just like most of Kashmir — been growing apples for 4-5 decades. But they
have been using the produce only for local consumption, never exploiting it
commercially. That is changing.
Beginning of an apple story
“We have been growing apples for many years,” said
Master Kasturi Lal Gupta, 62, the sarpanch (village head) of Latti. “But
neither the government nor the big traders knew that we produce apple. Earlier this year, the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s
office, Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also our member of Parliament in Lok Sabha,
tweeted a picture from his handle in September about the apple growers of
Udhampur district,” he said. “That was the beginning of our apple story.”
Gupta said after he was elected sarpanch in 2018, he
motivated farmers in his village to grow apples in large quantity to sell them.
“Earlier, our main crop was maize, but now have started growing apples,” said
Mohammad Yunis, who has a big apple orchard in Jammu.
Farmers in Jammu have started growing apples in large quantity.
These 5-6 villages in Jammu that produce many varieties of
apples, like Delicious, Maharaja, Rasakwadi and American and Golden Apples,
that are traditionally grown in Sopore in north Kashmir and Shopian in south
Kashmir. This year, farmers of the tiny Latti village, which has a population
of 7,000, have sold 20,000 metric tonnes of apple to traders in Jammu, which
has the biggest fruit market in Jammu & Kashmir. Traders from outside
purchase apples from the market in bulk. Soon, the apples will reach other
places in the country, giving them the first taste of dark-red and watery-green
apples that are grown in Jammu.
“It’s good that farmers in Udhampur and Jammu have
started apple-farming,” said RK Katoch, joint director, horticulture
department, Jammu. “The hilly belts in Jammu, like Latti, Dudu, Basantgarh, Bhaderwah
and Kishtwar, have climatic conditions similar to the Kashmir valley. Earlier,
people here grew apple only for personal consumption and not for trading. So,
this is a welcome move. This year, we have had a bumper crop from this region,
so it’s good for them too.”
Shamsher Singh, a sarpanch who also grows apples, said
the region also produces sour apples that are used for making apple jams.
“Earlier, no one took us seriously as apple-growers, but now we will prove that
we can give a tough competition to apple-growers from Kashmir. We are in touch
with officials from the horticulture department and with the administration so
that we can expand our reach.”
Farmers in Jammu are hoping the government will buy apples directly from them.
Traders are happy
The traders at Jammu’s Narwal fruit market are happy
that farmers from the region have started selling apples. “We are happy that
traders from this belt have also started growing apples commercially. It will
provide more variety and quantity, which is good for our business,” said Vinod
Kumar, a fruit trader. “These villages can set an example for villagers living
in other apple-growing belts of Jammu. Once the state becomes a Union
Territory, we are hoping that the horticulture department will introduce some
new schemes for farmers,” said Vinod.
Both Jammu and Kashmir became Union territories on
October 31, 2019.
The farmers are hopeful that after the reorganisation,
they will get to avail of the benefits of centrally-sponsored schemes in
general and those for apple-growers in particular. They are hoping the
government will buy apples directly from them. They say this will help
them make Jammu also famous for apples just like Kashmir.
“We are happy with the new status of Jammu and
Kashmir. If we will get good rates for our apples, what else do we need?” said Parvez
Ahmed, an apple-grower. “If we get help from the government, we are capable of
competing with the apple-growers from Kashmir,” said Yunis. Dr Piyush Singla,
the district commissioner of Udhampur, visited various apple orchards and has
assured help to farmers.
This year, apple export has fallen by about 1.35 lakh metric tonnes.
Peace in Jammu
Apple growers in Jammu also plan to make the most of
the relative calm in the region compared to Kashmir. In Kashmir, terrorists have been targeting truck
drivers, gunning some of them down while they were on their way to local
markers transporting apples from the valley.
“Peace prevails in the Jammu region,” said Mohammad
Aslam, who is among the biggest apple growers in the region having between 500
and 1,000 apple trees in his orchard. “The soil here is good. The climate is
good, too. All we need is some support from the government, which they have
assured they will provide,” he says.
Fall in apple export
This year, apple export has fallen by about 1.35 lakh
metric tonnes, in the wake of the communication blockade and restrictions
imposed after the special status for Jammu and Kashmir was revoked on August 5.
Jammu and Kashmir apple growers have exported 4.50
lakh metric tonnes of the fruit till October 9, compared with 5.79 lakh metric
tonnes last year. Officials, however, are hopeful the export will rise between
October and December, when 70% of the apple harvest is exported every year.
According to data provided by the government, Kashmir
exports about 20 lakh metric tonnes of apple every year and the
horticulture industry is said to be worth about Rs 8,000-9000 crore if one also
takes into account the employment it generates.
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