KVFGCDU demand comprehensive package of losses
Ovaise Gul
Srinagar, May 23: The Valley Fruit growers are facing mounting losses and slipping deeper into debt after repeated hailstorms and strong winds caused widespread devastation to orchards in North and southern parts of Kashmir.
A fresh spell of strong hailstorm swept through several parts of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district, severely damaging fruit orchards in villages of Sopore and Rafiabad, besides affecting orchards in several villages of Tral area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district and Shopian on Friday.
The latest hailstorm, described as the third major weather disaster to hit these districts in recent weeks and the second consecutive spell in Rafiabad, caused extensive damage to apple orchards at a crucial stage of the fruit season.
It has come to the fore that several villages including Watergam, Lessar, Dandiwacha, Dandoosa, Hadipora and adjoining areas in Rafiabad, besides parts of Ganderbal and Bandipora districts, were lashed by intense hail for several minutes, knocking down developing apples and damaging fruit-bearing branches.
The orchards turned white under the intensity of hail, while apples began falling instantly from trees, leaving behind scenes of devastation and huge financial losses for growers.
Chairman of Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, said repeated hailstorms and stormy winds have shattered the hopes of fruit growers who are already struggling after earlier weather-related losses on April 18 and May 12 this year.
He said back-to-back hailstorms were not only damaging this year’s harvest prospects but also threatening the fragile rural economy of the affected districts where thousands of families depend entirely on horticulture for their livelihood.
Basheer said several areas of Baramulla including Sangrama, Wagura, Kreeri, Pattan, Kandi and Tangmarg had also witnessed extensive orchard damage earlier this week due to severe hailstorm accompanied by strong winds.
Calling horticulture the “backbone” of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy, Basheer said lakhs of people are directly or indirectly associated with the sector, yet the government machinery has failed to conduct a proper assessment of losses caused by repeated hail storms across North, South and Central Kashmir.
He said absence of a Crop Insurance Scheme and Market Intervention Scheme was pushing orchardists deeper into debt, particularly marginal growers who form nearly 90 per cent of the Valley’s fruit-growing community.
“The poor and marginal fruit growers shoulder the burden of massive losses without any insurance or financial protection. Their domestic expenses and livelihoods depend entirely on income generated from orchards,” Basheer said.
The growers’ body appealed to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to immediately implement a Crop Insurance Scheme for the horticulture sector, restore the Market Intervention Scheme and announce a comprehensive compensation package for affected orchard owners.