Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Nov 4: Heavy Snowfall in the ongoing harvest season has brought misery for the orchardists of Kashmir as it has caused extensive damage to the standing and harvested crop.
Besides the standing crop, the harvested crop that was stored in open spaces has been affected as well. At one of the biggest fruit markets in South Kashmir’s Shopian town, the orchardists lamented that their harvested crop worth crores of rupees has been destroyed by the snowfall. “More than 1 lakh apple boxes that were stored here for sale have been partially or completely damaged by the snowfall resulting in huge loses, “Mohammad Ashraf, president Fruit and Vegetable market Shopian, said.
He said the makeshift auction sheds that were built here could not withstand the snowfall and collapsed, resulting in crushing of underneath apple boxes.
Another orchardist from shopian said the incessant rains and heavy snowfall for last two days has caused damage to apple orchards in the area and the weather onslaught would ultimately affect the final produce.
“Apart from snapping several fruit trees, rains and snow have affected the harvested crops that were stored in the open spaces. The loss can be rectified if the weather improves in coming days but if the situation persists the overall production will get dented”, Tufail Ahmad Bado, a local from Shopian, Said.
He further said that in the areas like Sedov, Hirpora, Padpawan, Shopian Town, Karewa, Manloo and Shirmal in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, the apple trees have suffered extensive damages. “These areas produce a major chunk of apple production in Kashmir which means the damages to trees will hit the total production”, he said.
The orchardists in North Kashmir were equally affected by the heavy snowfall. The orchards at well-known fruit producing areas including Rafiabad, Zangair and Sopore in North Kashmir’s Baramulla have also suffered extensive damages because of heavy snowfall.
The other areas where apple orchards got damaged are Watergam Dandoosa, Chitloora, Lorihama, Achabal, Marzigund and Behrampora. Locals said hundreds of fruit laden trees have been damaged resulting in heavy losses.
Meanwhile, the orchards at Yarmukam Kangan and Budgam areas in Central Kashmir’s Ganderabl district have suffered huge damages.
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