{"id":90968,"date":"2025-09-13T23:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/?p=90968"},"modified":"2025-09-13T23:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:40:07","slug":"nh-restrictions-threaten-livelihoods-of-kashmiri-growers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/13\/nh-restrictions-threaten-livelihoods-of-kashmiri-growers\/","title":{"rendered":"NH restrictions threaten livelihoods of Kashmiri growers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple farmers forced into costly multi-vehicle transfers as Mughal Road limits choke supply chain<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Srinagar, Sep 13 (KNO): Kashmir\u2019s fruit growers, already battling falling apple prices and crop damage have been now facing the challenge of transportation of their produce. With the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway witnessing repeated closures and the Mughal Road allowing only six-tyre vehicles on alternate days, the orchardists are struggling to move their harvest to markets across India.<\/p>\n

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As per the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), to keep their apples from perishing, growers are resorting to a patchwork system of transportation. They load their produce onto nearly small vehicles in south Kashmir, ferry it across the Mughal Road to Rajouri and then reload it onto a single truck bound for Delhi, Mumbai or other mandis.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is proving to be a nightmare for us,\u201d said Abdul Rashid, an orchardist from Shopian. \u201cHiring small load carriers, then shifting the same fruit into a truck, means double expenditure and double handling. Not only does it raise costs, but the fruit also loses freshness by the time it reaches outside markets. Buyers immediately cut down the rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The financial strain is palpable. Mushtaq Ahmad, a grower from Pulwama, explained, \u201cApple prices are already low this season due to massive fruit fall. Whatever little margin we had is now wiped out by transport hurdles. We are paying more for logistics than what we are getting in return from mandis.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Many farmers fear that if such challenges persist, Kashmir\u2019s horticulture \u2014 the backbone of its rural economy \u2014 will see a decline in future investment. \u201cWe depend on this crop for our survival,\u201d said Ghulam Nabi from Kulgam. \u201cBut every year it\u2019s the same story \u2014 weather, pests, or road closures. If the situation doesn\u2019t improve, people will abandon orcharding.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The horticulture sector in Kashmir contributes thousands of crores to the economy and sustains lakhs of families. Yet, transport has remained its most fragile link. With the current restrictions, traders warn of cascading losses.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf alternate routes are not made viable, the entire chain will collapse,\u201d said a fruit trader in Sopore. \u201cWe urge the administration to either permit bigger trucks on the Mughal Road every day or ensure smooth traffic on the Jammu highway. Without that, this season will be disastrous for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As the harvest season peaks, the silence from officials has only deepened growers\u2019 anxiety. For the orchardists, the fear is not just about this year\u2019s sales, but about the future of a livelihood that has sustained generations.<\/p>\n

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Though the government has been making efforts by making train arrangements for the produce besides that vehicles have been allowed on national highway as well in past few days but it isn’t normal as of now and growers have been demanding better arrangements from the government\u2014(KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple farmers forced into costly multi-vehicle transfers as Mughal Road limits choke supply chain   Srinagar, Sep 13 (KNO): Kashmir’s fruit growers, already battling falling apple prices and crop damage have been now facing the challenge of transportation of their produce. With the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway witnessing repeated closures and the Mughal Road allowing only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kashmir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90969,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90968\/revisions\/90969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}