When Apples Float Down the River in Kashmir

A journey through South Kashmir reveals how the valley's most prized harvest is sinking under neglect and poor planning.

- Khair Ull Nissa Shah

A few days ago, while travelling to Ashmuqam in South Kashmir, I came across a sight that still troubles me.

Truck after truck stood by the Lidder River, unloading apples straight into the water. The river carried them away, bobbing helplessly downstream.

For a moment, I felt disbelief. Then came a wave of sadness.

These apples could have fed families, created jobs, built enterprises. Instead, they were being discarded.

What I saw that morning was a mirror of our broken priorities.

Apple orchards are the lungs of our economy. Nearly half of Kashmiri population depends on apple cultivation, directly or indirectly.

With more than 20 million metric tonnes of production every year, nearly three quarters of India’s total output, this single fruit sustains around 3.5 million people.

But year after year, nearly a third of our harvest, worth over 3,500 crore rupees, is lost before it reaches the market.

This loss doesn’t come from lack of capacity. Kashmir has over 250,000 metric tonnes of cold storage space, among the largest in the country. The problem lies in weak planning, poor accountability, and an alarming absence of vision.

What we need is a new way of thinking.