Won't survive this disaster: Kashmiri entrepreneurs share lockdown pains

Despite the government's assertion that normalcy has returned, shops and businesses remained shut in Kashmir. Shops opened only twice a day, early morning and late evening.

Haji Mohammed Ghani, 74, squatted at the border of his apple orchard, sporting a neatly trimmed, white beard, and a frown. Around him were trees laden with apples ripe for picking.

At this time of year, his orchard--in a state that produces two-thirds of India's apples, earning Rs 6,500 crore ($903 million) in exports in 2016-17, contributing to a 10th of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 3.3 million workers--should have been buzzing with pickers and packers readying the fruits for shipment across India.

On September 8, 2019, when we visited his orchard,