Shopian: Cherry, this year’s first fruit crop in Kashmir valley, is ready but will it face as many hardships as last year’s apple? The long lockdown last year and frequent closure of the national highway during the winter months kept the apples lying unsold in cold storages in Kashmir. The ones that managed to reach the market fetched low prices on account of sudden glut in supply.
An even worse fate may lie in store for the cherry crop, growers and traders fear, as they see the nation-wide lockdown being extended again and again.
“Firstly, there are no boxes to pack and dispatch the fruit, due to no production and transport taking place amid the lockdown. Secondly, cheery is a soft fruit with a shelf-life of just a few days. Under such an intensive lockdown, we don’t see any hope of selling this produce,” said Shahid Ahmad Bhat, who expects his orchards’ cherry to fill about 1,000 boxes.
Growers said that the government should bring cherry into the list of essential commodities and its transport should be made hassle-free. “Stopping a cherry-laden vehicle for even an hour would result in spoiling of the fruit,” said Izhan Javid, Chief Executive Officer of a company trading in fruits. He added that there are not enough fruit processing units in Kashmir to make use of such a huge crop. “I think, like apple, cherry will also spoil,” he said.
Another cherry trader said that last year he had bought 15,000 boxes to pack cherry, but this year he has failed to find boxes due to the lockdown.
Tasneem Mubark, senior scientist at SKAUST, said that there is not much local demand for this fruit, so it is mostly exported to other states. Hassle-free movement of vehicles carrying the fruit should be, therefore, a priority.
Kashmir last year produced about 11,000 metric tonnes of cherry, but according to estimates, 35 percent of the crop was destroyed due to incessant rains which spoiled the fruit. Showkat Ahmed, a horticulture officer, said that last year despite the damages, the growers got good returns as the fruit fetched good rates in the markets.
Kashmir has nearly 1.2 lakh kanals of land under cultivation of cherry. It is sold under various brand names, such as Mishri, Dabal, Italian, Makhmali, Siya, and some other imported varieties.
In Kashmir cherry is mainly grown in Shopian in south Kashmir, Lar and Tangmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, and in a few areas of Srinagar.
Horticulture expert Professor Haroon Malik told Kashmir Reader that there is sufficient machinery in Kashmir to process the cherry crop, but the prices that fresh cherry fetches in the market are much higher than what fruit processing units buy it for.
Director of Horticulture, Kashmir, Ajaz Ahmad Bhat did not respond to text messages from this reporter asking about this year’s produce and the government’s policy on movement of trucks transporting cherry to other states.

Raashid Hassan