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Current spring season followed by summer has given only jolts to fruit growers in Kashmir. Tons of apples have rotten in the cooling centers as they could not transport to Delhi due to lockdown.

Horticulture sector have suffered series of setbacks in Kashmir valley right from August 5, last year. When the government decided to go for a heavy security build up.

In Kashmir following abrogation of article 370, it was a mid-summer season and many fruits including grapes could not be transported out of Kashmir. Similarly untimely snow and rains devastated the horticulture sector in Kashmir in same year of 2019.

Thousands of orchards suffer heavy losses as the fruit trees were uprooted by heavy snow in Kashmir. Government only provided hollow assurance to this backbone of economy in Kashmir. After months of official visits, surveys in the fruit orchards of Kashmir to access of damages, the fruit growers got some token money of Rs 1500 or more in their bank accounts.

It was an insult added to injury as the preliminary losses to the horticulture sector due to the official crackdown and untimely snow was at least few thousand crores.

Now lot of apple has rotten in the boxes as they were stored in the different cooling centers at Lassipora center of Pulwama. According to the fruit growers the current losses is touched to few hundred crore rupees as there are no takers of Kashmir fruit in this season of pandemic.