Sopore fruit mandi, Asia’s second largest, deserted

Sumayyah Qureshi in Sopore

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Around 50 km north of Srinagar in Sopore area of Baramulla district is located Asia’s second largest fruit mandi. A dusty, bumpy road leads to the Sopore fruit mandi, spread over 372 kanals. Usually bustling at this time of the year, it is shut since the clampdown on August 5, when the state was stripped of its special status. It is also the first time the mandi has been shut since militancy began in the region.

The gate to the mandi is half ajar and a security forces’ vehicle has been stationed inside. Some security men move around but not a single trader can be seen. There is no honking of trucks and no labourers hurrying to load fruit boxes onto the trucks. The mandi is deserted except for some truckers, who after finding no business, are planning to return to their states.

A trucker from Amritsar, Jaspreet Singh, said: “The rates of apple are low. We cannot transport apple when the rates are too low. We are already in losses with bank loans to repay for our trucks. We will go back in a day or two.” Jaspreet added that as the situation was not good in the Valley, growers were not coming to sell produce.

Another trucker, Puran Chand from Jammu, said: “Nobody listens to us. I have been here for the past five days. I will transport fruit only if the rates increase.”

Truckers said 200-250 trucks carrying apple boxes used to leave from the mandi everyday in normal times as against the 10-odd, that too from outside the mandi, these days.

Mainstay of economy

The country’s 75 per cent apple produce comes from Kashmir, but the trade has been hit hard this year. The horticulture sector is considered the backbone of J&K’s economy. Around 50 lakh people from 12 lakh families are directly or indirectly involved in apple trade.

The militant attack on fruit growers on September 6 in Dangerpora village of Sopore seems to have acted as a warning shot and is also one of the reasons why the mandi continues to be shut. Growers said truckers were refraining from coming to the Valley so there was dearth of transport.

The yearly apple production of the Valley is 24 lakh metric tonne (around 14 crore apple boxes). President of the Sopore fruit mandi, Fayaz Ahmed Malik, alias Kakaji, said more than two crore boxes had been sold so far, but that was not any positive sign.

“The market is down since October last year. The intermittent national highway shutdown has also been responsible for the slump. We did not even get good money for the early varieties of apple, which arrive in the market from July to August-end,” said Kakaji.

“The fruit grower is under huge bank loans. This has been exacerbated by the clampdown since August and the communication shutdown. We don’t know at what rate apple is being sold outside,” added Kakaji.

“In this season, 250-300 fruit trucks would leave the mandi every day. In October-November, it would go up to 500-600 trucks. But today, as the mandi remains shut, some growers are loading fruit from their villages but the number of fruit trucks sent is negligible,” the mandi president said.

Government to the rescue

To ease the sufferings of growers caused by the clampdown, Governor Satya Pal Malik recently launched the first-ever support price-based procurement system for apple in J&K. Principal Secretary, Planning, Rohit Kansal, who announced the decision at a press conference in Srinagar, said it was a unique scheme. “We have taken note of the various concerns raised by apple farmers regarding rates being offered to them as well as the issue of transportation. The scheme addresses all concerns.”

There are four procurement centres: Parimpora in Srinagar, Shopian, Sopore and Batengoo in Anantnag.

The market intervention scheme (MIS), which was launched in association with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, is yet to pick up pace owing to lack of awareness. Growers, however, complain that the scheme has been launched mid-season, which as per them is too late. They said the scheme should have been started in July, when early varieties of apple were ready.

The government has graded apples into three categories — A (Rs 52), B (Rs 36) and C (Rs 15.75).

“The rate of A grade apple is less. It should be at least between Rs 65 and Rs 70. Around 80 per cent of our produce is unsold. We are doomed. We have huge loans. How will repay the banks?” asked Kakaji. The rates for B and C grade apple, however, were good. “Our maximum produce is A grade. If the government gives us good rates for it, all growers will sell the produce to it,” he said. “Basically, the fruit industry is finished.”

He said their customers, from as far away as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, had not come this year. “We used to have customers from all states but they haven’t come because of the situation in the Valley. We are looking at a loss of Rs 1,000 crore.”

A member of the growers’ association, Ghulam Nabi Shekh, said: “If the situation continues to be like this, there might come a time that growers will commit suicide. The government must seriously think how it can support the growers.”

Director, Horticulture, Kashmir, Ayaz Ahmed Bhat said, “Under the market intervention scheme, we have started procuring apple. The response to the scheme is good. As many as 300 growers have registered. Our target is to procure 12 lakh metric tonne of fruit.”

Bhat said: “If the grower thinks the scheme is good for him, he can come and register with us. It is up to them to decide.”

Under the MIS, the money will be transferred directly into the account of the grower within three days of procurement of his produce, he said.

Growers demand crop insurance

Fruit growers in Sopore said Kashmir was the only state where there was no crop insurance. They said 30-40 per cent of their produce was affected by scabies. Some of their fruit had been damaged by hailstorm and some by spurious pesticides. “Not even a penny was given as compensation during the 2014 floods. Orchards got destroyed from north to south but growers got no relief,” said Manzoor Ahmed Bhat, a fruit grower. President of the Sopore fruit mandi Fayaz Malik said the losses could at least be covered by crop insurance.

Costs shoot up, rates slip down

In a dense apple orchard along the Baramulla highway, where a bit of sunlight filtered in and cicadas had created a hum, a group of men sat on grass, grading apple and carefully putting them into wooden cartons. In the orchard, around 4 kanals, many trees were still bent with fruit. Many late varieties are yet to be harvested, but the growers are finding it difficult to arrange transport or even find labourers. The owner, Mohammad Ashraf Ganai, said: “We don’t sell our fruit in Sopore fruit mandi. We directly transport the produce to Delhi, but this year, lack of transport is a major worry. Truckers are not coming to Kashmir.” Ganai said a box of ‘A’ grade apple cost between Rs 350 and Rs 400. Every season, he sells around 15,000 boxes of fruit and so far, he has sent around 5,000 to Delhi. “Kashmiri truckers are quoting high rates for transportation,” Ganai said.

His brother Zahoor Ahmed Ganai said: “Due to lack of communication, we do not even know where our produce is after it leaves the village.” He said they had tried to sell their produce at the Parimpora fruit mandi in Srinagar but had come under attack from stone throwers.

The orchardists said even the cost of wooden cartons, paper and hay used for packaging has increased. “A wooden carton that used to cost Rs 50 is now selling for Rs 70. The cost of hay has gone up four times. We are earning less and spending more,” said Ashraf. The brothers said even labour charges had increased as non-locals had fled the Valley. “A non-local labourer used to charge between Rs 200 and Rs 250 but a local charges between Rs 500-700,” said Zahoor. — SQ

‘Waive interest on loans’

As the fruit growers were suffering, government should waive the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan. The interest on loan for the past five years should be waived. This amounts to Rs 5,000 crore. This would bring some relief. — Fayaz Ahmed Malik, President, Sopore fruit mandi