Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers and Dealers Union Renews Demand for Crop Insurance Scheme
Diplomat Correspondent
Srinagar, DD, A powerful hailstorm acompanied by stormy winds wreaked havoc across parts of Kashmir Valley, causing severe damage to apple orchards and leaving fruit growers devastated. The affected areas include districts such as Shopian, Kulgam, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Handwara, Rafiabad, and Baramulla.
On Monday around 2:30 PM, an intense hailstorm struck multiple villages in the Imam Sahib belt of Shopian district, including Nagbal, Handew, Wadipora, Alshipora, and Dasu. The storm lasted for 15–20 minutes, battering hundreds of apple orchards, which are the economic backbone for thousands of families in the region.
Fruit growers from the affected areas reported that the stormy winds, heavy rainfall, and hail caused widespread damage to their crops at a critical stage of development. Similar weather events in parts of Handwara, Rafiabad, Baramulla, Bandipora, and Ganderbal earlier had already left orchards in a fragile state.
The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has once again appealed to the Government of India and the Jammu and Kashmir administration for the immediate implementation of a Crop Insurance Scheme. They argue that such a scheme is essential to safeguard the livelihoods of fruit growers against recurring climatic calamities.
“While weather-related challenges are beyond our control, the absence of a crop insurance scheme leaves us completely vulnerable. Our repeated pleas have gone unheard for years,” said a spokesperson of the union.
The union noted that despite various announcements from government quarters, a comprehensive crop insurance policy for Kashmir’s horticulture sector remains unimplemented.
The recent weather disaster has not only affected orchard owners but has also disrupted the entire horticulture ecosystem—including transporters, packaging units, traders, and laborers—inflicting a significant economic setback on the region.
With horticulture being one of the largest employment-generating sectors in Jammu and Kashmir, the union has called for urgent intervention to protect this vital industry from further devastation(DD)
