What’s Rotting Isn’t Just Fruit—It’s the Future of Kashmir

The war on Kashmir's apples farmers.

In apple orchards across Kashmir, generations of Kashmiris have built their lives around the harvest season that extends from August to October. But this year, the highways were shut down for the second time in less than 12 months. Trucks carrying fruit worth tens of millions of rupees were held back for weeks, while loaded crates rotted waiting for the road to open. Farmers returned home with unsellable produce, broken backs, and no answers. The Indian government says it’s because of the heavy rain that has battered Kashmir over the past several weeks. But is what is happening with apple orchards an accident of nature or an outcome of a deliberate, layered strategy? From allowing duty-free Iranian apples to undercutting local produce, to pushing substandard pesticides, to blocking the very roads needed for survival—each act tightens the noose. Our guest correspondent details five ways the Indian state is deliberately and silently killing Kashmir’s farming economy.

Weaponizing the Highway

In early September, Kashmir witnessed major flooding that severely disrupted the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway, the region’s economic lifeline.

This highway usually does not close for extended periods.

Yet during this year’s peak harvest season, trucks carrying apples to Delhi and other destinations were stuck for 20 days, causing apples to rot and losses worth tens of millions of rupees.

While landslides and rain were to blame for the initial closures, farmers say the government’s slow repair work and failure to find alternative routes, as well as the slow highway management, led to the destruction of crops stranded in trucks.

Kashmir’s horticulture employs about 3.5 million people and supports more than 700,000 families. It contributes eight to nine percent to GDP.

The closure is not just a disruption to livelihoods. It directly threatens it.

There are stories of farmers collapsing with anxiety while orchard owners default on loans. “I can’t sleep and I am unable to talk at home,” said a Pulwama man in a video, sobbing helplessly as his fully loaded truck with apples returned from Rajasthan. Educated youth who turned to apple farming due to a lack of jobs are now uncertain about repaying debts.

Although the government has now claimed a partial reopening of the highway, farmers say truck movements remains slow.

Many remember 2022, when highway restoration works allegedly caused trucks to be halted and then allowed to flood markets all at once, crashing prices.

Repeated closures, selective truck permissions, and bureaucratic mismanagement have caused apples worth tens of millions of rupees to rot.

These aren’t unavoidable natural disruptions but deliberate negligence, often disguised as security or weather concerns.

“Military convoys move freely, but fruit trucks are halted for days,” one farmer said.

By contrast, Himachal Pradesh also faces roadblocks but handles them with faster repairs, alternate routes, and cold chains. Kashmir’s assurances of repairs remain unfulfilled; delays persist, leaving many locked out.

“Do they [the government] take this long to restore the road when it comes to the Yatra (Hindu pilgrimage)? No, they restore the same road that was blocked for weeks within hours,” said a farmer. “Why wouldn’t we think that it is a deliberate attempt to cripple the economy?”

Flooding the Market with Cheaper Iranian Apples

In 2022, two years after Article 370’s abrogation, Kashmir’s apple industry faced a flood of duty-free Iranian apples entering Indian markets, often bypassing taxes.

These imports were sold cheaper, undercutting local produce.

Protests erupted in regions like north Kashmir’s Sopore, with the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers and Traders Association highlighted the drop in apple prices from around Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 600 per box.

Instead of shielding local produce, the government allowed duty-free Iranian apples to flood the market. Farmers called it economic betrayal and warned it undermines Kashmir’s horticultural backbone.

Substandard Pesticides

The responsibility for regulating the sale, import and quality of these products lies with the Indian government and local authorities.

Yet, despite knowing that several types of insecticides and chemicals are banned across Europe and other parts of the world, many are sold freely in Kashmir, with minimal oversight.

Instead of protecting farmers, Delhi has failed to stop harmful products from entering the market.

Poor quality pesticides reduce yield, increase disease, and cause long-term soil damage—and yet there is almost no enforcement or remedy. The agricultural extension system that could educate or protect farmers is nonexistent.

Farmers allege that the issue of substandard pesticides in Kashmir is often dismissed by officials and SKAUST (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology) experts, who claim there are strong checks in place.

SKAUST releases an annual list of recommended pesticides after extensive research. But farmers tell a different story.

“Midway through the growing season, dealers and even some university-linked figures begin promoting unlisted chemicals,” one farmer said.

Many of these insecticides, they say, are aggressively marketed as quick fixes—even though they are banned elsewhere due to their toxic effects. “Every time someone arrives with a sample, bragging about its immediate effects and snubbing the harm,” said the farmer.

Another farmer recalls spraying one of the unlisted chemicals and ending up with burning skin, red eyes, nausea, and stomach pain.

Every year, thousands of cancer cases related to exposure to these perilous insecticides are reported at SKIMS, Srinagar.

The question is, why are these dangerous products being pushed without proper research or regulation, especially when they’re banned elsewhere?

“They brought the pests, and now they’re selling us the poison,” said a farmer.

Climate Disasters Amplified by State Neglect and Environmental Damage

Kashmir faces erratic rainfall, landslides, and changing weather patterns due to climate change.

But state neglect worsens the crisis— farmers claim there’s barely any functional crop insurance, inadequate storage, delayed road clearance, and no effective rehabilitation plans.

So when the rains came in September, and the orchards in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district were flooded and submerged, the losses piled up to Rs. 200 crore ($22 million)

Then with the roads cut off, ripe fruit rotted on the trees.

Over the last two years, Kashmir has lost over 40 sq km of forest cover due to unchecked infrastructure and tourism projects.

Roads cut through fragile slopes, such as the Handwara–Bangus stretch, where over 1,000 trees were felled without clearance. Ancient Chinar trees were cut in Anantnag under the guise of pruning. Forest lands in Gulmarg, Sonamarg, and Pahalgam were diverted for tourism facilities.

Additionally, nearly six hundred thousand poplar trees along the Jhelum River were cut in anti-encroachment drives.

These actions have destabilized the fragile ecosystem, worsening floods and landslides.

Land Grabs Disguised as Development

Across Kashmir, agricultural land is being repurposed for infrastructure, highways, industrial corridors, and urban expansion—often without transparent compensation or consultation.

Farmers have protested, warning that these land grabs threaten their livelihoods and identity.

Many farmers repeat the same complaint:

“They are taking away our land, the backbone of our economy, without telling us where we will go or how we will survive.”

With high unemployment in Kashmir, farming remains the only chance at a livelihood for many.

The irony is that while the Indian government continues to struggle in creating jobs, it is simultaneously taking away the land—the source of income and survival.

As one farmer narrated:

“There are no jobs for our children, and we hoped farming would provide a stable future for them. But if they take away our land, what options will they have? What will become of us?”

More than five hundred and fifty thousand fruit trees—including almonds, apples, plums, and walnuts—face being uprooted due to projects like the National Institute of Technology campus in Pulwama and the proposed Anantnag-Pahalgam railway line. These projects endanger hundreds of hectares of orchards that sustain generations.

Despite protests and promises to convey concerns to authorities, there is no clear sign that these projects have been halted.

The collapse of farming in Kashmir is not a side effect of modernization but is a methodical disempowerment of a people, one season at a time.

What’s rotting isn’t just fruit—it’s the future.

This dispatch was produced with the kind support of Hari Sharma Foundation. Check out their work here.