Like apples, J&K’s No. 2 fruit pear is struggling too — after a bumper crop & no returns

Pear trade in J&K is worth Rs 200 crore, but owing to the curbs in place this year, growers have been able to sell them for just 12.5% of the usual price.

Representational image of a pear orchard | pixabay.com

Budgam: The Centre’s decision to loop in the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to procure this season’s apple harvest from Jammu and Kashmir is an important move for apple growers. But pear growers haven’t been so lucky.

This year’s pear season coincided with the communications blackout and curbs on movement, imposed on 4 August, the day before the abrogation of special status and bifurcation of J&K into two union territories was announced.

When the government decided to ease some restrictions in the third week of August, a people’s curfew began, which continues even now. The pear harvest was caught in the middle, and though official numbers are not out yet, different stakeholders speculate a zero-profit situation. Growers and traders say they’ve had to sell pears at nearly one-eighth of the usual price, or about 12.5 per cent.

“Unfortunately, the pear harvest suffered massively this year. We had a bumper crop this season and the returns were almost nil,” said J.A. Bhat, chief horticulture officer in Srinagar.

“We are trying to ensure the same does not happen to the apple harvest and that is why the deal with NAFED becomes crucial.”

Significance of pears in J&K

The horticulture sector in J&K is worth Rs 8,000 crore, and accounts for 8 per cent of its GDP. According to official records, the erstwhile state produced 24.30 lakh metric tonnes of fruit in 2018-19, of which apples accounted for 18.82 lakh metric tonnes. The Kashmir division alone produced 21.61 lakh metric tonnes of fruit.

Last year, J&K produced more than 86,000 metric tonnes of pear. The fruit is cultivated in all three regions of the former state — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh — and in virtually every district, though Budgam tops the list. According to official documents, 33 lakh people from around 7 lakh families are directly or indirectly involved in the fruit trade. 

However, unlike apples, the shelf-life of pears is extremely low, which makes it more difficult for growers to sell their products.

In Kashmir, J&K horticulture department officials said, pear is produced mainly in Uri and Budgam — the naakh and babugosha types of pear contribute 85-95 per cent of the total pear production. Babugosha alone accounts for 50-60 per cent of the pear harvest, and is the driving force behind the pear economy.

It is babugosha that has suffered the most due to the restrictions, fruit growers and the dealers told ThePrint.

“Both pear and apple are divided into A, B and C categories, with A being the best. A single box of A category babugosha yields somewhere between Rs 750-800. But this time, the rate was Rs 100-350. Even the costs incurred by us in transporting the fruit from Kashmir to Delhi or Jammu were not recovered,” said Bashir Ahmed Bashir, chairman of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-cum-Dealers’ Union.

‘Devastating’ situation

Apple season starts in the latter part of September, so many apple growers in the Valley also produce pear in the month of August. For these growers, the losses incurred in pears might be compensated if they are able to sell apples this year. But many, like Subhan Mohammad of Budgam, rely on pears alone for their annual income.

“I suffered massively this year. We were forced to sell C grade babugosha for as low as Rs 10 a kilo, which means a box of 17-18 kg yielded only Rs 170. What are we supposed to do?” lamented Subhan.

Another pear grower, Rashid Ahmed, added: “During the communications blackout, we had to leave the sale of our fruit entirely up to God. We were able to transport the fruit to the mandis during the night, but had no idea whether they would be sold or at what cost. We had no idea of the market rates, and now, when we talked to our dealers, they gave us an assessment. It is devastating.”

A dealer based in Srinagar explained the size of the damage.

“A box of pears or apples that is sold at Rs 800 each ensures profits for the grower, for dealers in Kashmir, covers transportation, provides money to labourers and profits to buyers in mandis outside J&K,” the dealer told ThePrint, requesting not to be named.

“A box of pear can ensure around Rs 400-450 for growers based in Kashmir, which they use to cover labour costs, fertilisers, box charges, employee salaries, infrastructure and so on. But if you are earning Rs 100 instead of 800, what will it cover?”

Some pear growers in Budgam whom ThePrint spoke to said they were hoping that the naakh pear would help them regain some footing, but the damage done is beyond repair.

Doubts over NAFED deal

The apple industry is also bracing for a major challenge, despite the NAFED deal.

Chief horticulture officer Bhat said about 20-30 per cent of the total produce has been pushed out for sale, while the rest is yet to hit the markets. “If NAFED ends up buying the harvest, it will only mean good news for the growers. The farmer will benefit,” he said.

However, given the curtailed access to information, particularly mobile phones and internet, growers and dealers in the Valley are clueless about the NAFED deal. Whatever information they have is only through statements issued by the government.

The administration will inaugurate the NAFED deal, now called the Market Intervention Scheme, on 12 September, and release guidelines for it. 

A J&K administration official said: “The chief secretary’s office, the horticulture department and NAFED are currently talking. A blueprint on how to go about it will be issued this week. We understand the inconvenience that has been caused or will be caused to those in the fruit trade due to restrictions, and that is why we are thinking for them.”

The official added that the scheme can be availed by only fruit growers or fruit growers-cum-traders. It is still not clear if those only involved in trade and not growing will be able to avail the scheme, given that NAFED will be procuring the fruits from mandis only and not directly from orchards.

However, a shop owner at the Srinagar fruit mandi said: “We don’t know what to make of it yet. We aren’t sure what it will mean for locals here if a corporation buying everything, and that too from whom it calls ‘genuine’ growers.”

“Till now, dealers in Kashmir would get a 6 per cent commission on the total sale, and in Delhi, the commission would be 10 per cent. We don’t know where the deal would place us,” said the shop owner, who did not wish to be named. 

Other problems facing fruit industry

Apart from the monetary implications, people involved in the fruit industry also find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

The fruit trade has complied with the Valley-wide shutdown to protest the abrogation of Article 370. Traders are working only at night and early morning, with another factor playing on their minds being the prevalent threat of militant attacks and stone pelting.

Suspected militants have dropped letters asking traders to limit their operations, but more than a dozen shopkeepers at fruit mandis of the Valley have accused the J&K administration of forcing them to open shop during the day — an accusation denied by officials.