Early Apple Warning

While the world watches distant battlefields, another climate shock has unsettled Kashmir orchards.

- 

Apple trees have started budding early this year. Much earlier than farmers expect. Those tiny blossoms look beautiful on the branches, but growers read them as a warning. Experience has taught them what early blooming can bring.

Apples sit at the center of Kashmir economy. Thousands of families depend on orchards for their yearly income. Seasonal workers earn wages through pruning, harvesting, packing, and transport. Traders move fruit from village orchards to markets throughout India. A change in seasons touches every part of this chain.

Early buds rarely signal a good season.

Cold winters once set the natural clock for apple trees. Snow covered the valley, temperatures stayed low, and spring arrived slowly. Buds opened when the weather warmed in a predictable way. Farmers trusted that seasonal clock because it rarely failed.