Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Mar 25: The cold units most of whom are in Lassipora area of Pulwama have proven very beneficial for fruits growers as it has provided them a choice to sell their produce as per their will besides maintaining chain of supply and demand.
Experts said that apples kept in cold storage in Kashmir are sold at better prices, as the growers see it fit on demand.
However, during harvesting season, farmers are pumping tons of apples into cold storage units across the valley, but the already set up cold storage units didn’t meet the demand, which suggests that the valley needs more cold storage units.
Azhar Anjum, Manager of one of the cold storage units, said that cold storage units have come in handy for Kashmiri apple growers who witnessed a very low demand for the fruit despite bumper crops last season.
He said that cold storage units are very beneficial as it increases the shelf life of apples by 6-8 months and helps in maintaining the chain of supply and demand.
He said the cold storages have “revolutionised” the horticulture sector as it gives a choice to a grower to sell his produce “as per will”.
Though the number of cold storage units is still very less and can store just little produce but main thing growers need to do is to focus on smart packing and grading, he said.
“Our apples are the most delicious in the world but we are still using traditional ways of packing and grading due to which customers are preferring the apples from other countries that are packed smartly,” he said. “We have been still using hay and other things in packing and using high quality apples in upper layers while low quality and less shining apples in lower layers are creating problems for all.”
He said: “We need to learn to pack apples in small boxes or trays in a smart way that can be given as gifts on functions as well.. If we are able to do so we can easily compete with apples from other countries and earn a livelihood as well.”
Shahid Ahmad, an assistant manager of another cold storage unit at SIDCO Lassipora in Pulwama said that cold storages were running full and they did not have capacity to accommodate more growers.
He said that their unit has a capacity to store three lakh apple boxes and around 40 percent of the produce is still here.
Some growers have sent their produce to markets where it fetches about Rs 1200-1300 per box compared to Rs 300-500 in 2022 autumn of 2022.
He also said that growers need to focus on grading and packing more in every season then and only then Kashmiri apples will easily compete with fruit from other countries.
People associated with the apple industry say that introduction of cold storages has revolutionised the industry besides providing jobs to hundreds of labourers.
Kashmir on average produces over 20 lakh metric tonnes of apple every year, a figure that in some years touches 25 lakh metric tonnes.
The 2017 economic survey in J&K said that half of Kashmir’s population is directly or indirectly dependent on the apple industry and over 3.5 lakh hectares are under apple cultivation.
