J&K's Rs 1,200cr apple trade in shambles

Apple farming may be one of the major sources of revenue in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) but fruit growers say unless their trade is granted an industry status, it will continue to suffer.

More than five lakh families are directly associated with the Rs 1,200 crore business in Kashmir valley alone, and fruit growers say their business won't survive in the coming decade unless something is not done to revive it.

"We will soon be deprived of our livelihood if the government fails to take concrete steps to revive the business in the state," Ghulam Rasool Bhat, President, All Jammu and Kashmir Fruits and Vegetable Growers' Association said.

"Our first demand is that the fruit trade be given the status of an industry so that we are entitled to related benefits," Bhat told PTI.

He said 'scab' infection, adulterated fungicide and the absence of a single cold-storage faculty for preservation of fruits besides government apathy as reasons for the dip in business.