Fruit growers need urgent support

The prolonged closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway has pushed fruit growers, especially apple farmers, into a deep crisis. With truckloads of produce stranded and rotting due to delays, many farmers are facing huge financial losses. This is not just an inconvenience; it’s a blow to the backbone of Kashmir’s rural economy. Horticulture, especially apple and other fruit cultivation, forms the backbone of Kashmir’s rural economy. Thousands of families depend on timely transportation of produce to mandis across the country. The highway is their lifeline. When it is blocked, the consequences are catastrophic. Fruit rots in stranded trucks, prices crash due to delayed arrivals and growers are left with mounting debts and shattered hopes. While natural events cannot be fully controlled, the fallout can certainly be mitigated. What the farming community now needs is more than sympathy, they need action. It is time the government announced a special relief package for affected growers. The government must respond with urgency. A special relief package is essential, including compensation for damaged produce, transport subsidies, and loan relief. Farmers cannot be left to bear the brunt of repeated disruptions on their own. In the long term, alternative routes like the Mughal Road must be developed, and cold storage and rail transport options expanded. Depending on a single, landslide-prone highway is unsustainable. The region’s fruit growers have shown resilience time and again. Now, they deserve support, not just in words, but through real action. The time to help them is now.