The lockdown has been a double whammy of sorts for the farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. After the withdrawal of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, there were curfew-like conditions prevailing in the valley for several months. Just when their situation began looking up, the heavy snowfall in November caused a lot of damage to the farmers in the state and now the lockdown is further increasing their hardships.

In its report on November 16, 2019 report, a seven-member team of the All India Farmers’ Struggle Coordination Committee, had visited Jammu and Kashmir, estimated a loss of at least Rs 7,000-8,000 crore to the horticulture farmers due to the curfew and heavy snowfall in the state. However, the total loss assessment done by the state Agriculture Department had shown a loss of Rs 3,500 crore. According to the Agriculture Department, the annual turnover of horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir is about Rs 10,000 crore.

In view of the rapid spread of coronavirus, the country has been put on a lockdown of 21 days from March 25. All services except essential/emergency services are prohibited during this time and a person is only allowed to step out to take basic and essential things to life.

Imtiaz Yaru, 55, lives in Koharu village in Kupwara tehsil in Kashmir and has apple trees in the area of 15 canals. A canal has an average of 13 to 14 trees. “The apple season ends in November. We pick the latter crop of apples and place it in the cold storage. We take up this stock in the last days of March and sell it in other parts of the country. Traders come here too. The advantage of selling at this time is that we get a good price, but our hope is now crumbling,” he said.

He added: “I grew up among the apple trees. This is what I have been doing since I came of age. Many of our generations have passed in this occupation. We have been suffering losses since last year. But we can’t abandon our occupation. This is what is written in our destiny.”

Imtiaz had left for Siliguri on March 25 with 1,193 boxes of apples (a box consisting of 15 to 20 kg of apples) but was stopped in Lucknow. He had to return with unsold apples that he put again in the cold storage. Imtiaz said: “This is the time when we can earn, but we are not able to earn anything due to the lockdown. The curfew in Kashmir was also imposed when the sale season was on. That time, apples were sold for Rs 300 a box in the local market, whereas in Delhi, the same apple would have been sold for Rs 900-1,000 per box.”

The woes of apple farmers of Jammu and Kashmir do not end here.

“We have to gear up for the next season. Apple trees have begun blooming and require at least two sprayings, but we don’t have the chemicals. The neighbouring shop that I purchase the medicines from receives its own supply from Delhi. No one has any idea when that supply would resume. I fear we are going to face yet another year of losses when our last season harvest lying unsold,” said Imtiaz.

As per the year 2017-18, As per the Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Department’s 2017-18 report, about 67 per cent (170 quintals annually) of the country’s apple production comes from Jammu and Kashmir and is also the main source of livelihood of about 33 lakh people. The export of apple in the year 2016-2017 also provided an income of about Rs 6,500 crore to the government. The share of apples in the total horticulture in Jammu and Kashmir is 48 per cent.

Tanvir Ahmad Dar, General Secretary, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, Jammu and Kashmir, who himself is an apple farmer, told Gaon Connection over the phone: “There occurred a lot of snowfall in November which hit 25 to 30 per cent of apple trees. Before that, there was a lockdown in the entire state. Many of our orders were also cancelled due to the closed phones lines. We couldn’t even store our entire harvest as the cold storage fell short. Apples had to be sold at the throwaway price and now finally when we were to make some earnings the lockdown happened. This is a good decision for people’s protection, but the government should also think about the farmers.”

He added: “The apple currently selling at Rs 150-160 a kilo in Delhi Mandi, is the same that the merchants buy from us in season for Rs 50-60. Now they are able to command more money from their customers because they have cold stores. However bad the situation may have been earlier, we never suffered so much in any season. It is time to care for the apples, but there are no medicines in the market. It will affect the coming crop.”

Apart from Apples, saffron, plum and cherry farmers in Jammu and Kashmir are also suffering due to lockdown. Saffron cultivation begins from the last week of April, the preparations for which begin as early as the last days of March. Junaid Rego, 28, a saffron farmer from Pampore, about 15 kms away from Srinagar, is an engineer by profession, but is propagating his ancestral work. Junaid is the fifth- generation saffron farmer in his house, but is currently very disappointed.

Junaid said: “In the year 2007, we sold one gram saffron (lachcha variety) for Rs 250, now the same price has come down to Rs 120 per gram while the price of Mogra variety saffron has come down from Rs 400 to Rs 150 per gram. The production has also decreased. My 10 canals produced saffron up to two kilos till two years ago, but now it has come down to 50 to 60 grams. We were struggling with it when first came up curfew and now the lockdown.”

He added: “The curfew was imposed when we were preparing to sell saffron, but our saffron remained unsold. Cheaper saffron from Iran hit the market and the price of our saffron went down. We had thought that everything will be alright this season, but have already begun facing difficulties. In a 10-canal field, at least 12 labourers are required to work daily for 10 days, but the labourers are not available. Some of the labourers have gone out and whoever are there have gone to other districts. I have to prepare the field, but I don’t know how to go about it. By the time, everything is restored, we may lag far behind. If sown late, the crop will not find favourable weather which will reduce yields. As it is my production has fallen by 80%.

Cultivation of saffron, popularly known as red gold, begins in May and its harvest by October, but the saffron field needs to be prepared before cultivation. Saffron is cultivated in about 5,000 hectares in India. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Department, an average of 17 metric tonnes (170 quintals) of saffron is produced every year in the state. About one kilo of saffron comes from 160,000 flowers and 16,000 farmer families in the state are involved in its cultivation.

Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir is the largest saffron producing district and that is why it is also called the city of saffron. At present, saffron is being cultivated in about 3,700 hectare area in the state and about 32,000 farmers are engaged in it. Himachal Pradesh is the second state in the country cultivating saffron.

Riyaz Butt, a farmer from Baramulla, Srinagar, said: “We suffered a lot after August 5 last year. A box of cherry costing Rs 100, had to be sold at Rs 30-40. We hardly earned Rs 20-25 in a box. There was a loss of at least Rs 3 lakh. This time it seems that yields will be low. The trees have begun flowering. I’ve been looking for oil spray for a week, I am simply not getting it.”

Riyaz, 42, cultivates cherries in 21 canals. His garden is in the region adjoining Gulmarg, and is considered good for cherry cultivation due to its good weather. Riaz said that by July-August, the fruit becomes ready for picking and 6,000 boxes of cherries come from 21 canals. The cherry boxes are of one and two kilos each. Jammu and Kashmir leads the cherry production in the country. Cherry cultivation is undertaken in over 2,713 hectares of land in the state.

Dar Jahur, the national secretary of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, Jammu and Kashmir, drew attention to yet another problem. He said: “Farmers need money to do farming in the next season, but they don’t have. Our banks are not open. Even if few of them are open, there is no cash. The seed shops are open, but the farmers do not have the money. We are constantly complaining to the authorities about this problem, but there is no one to hear us.”

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Department, about 25 per cent of the total population of the state is associated with fruit cultivation and related business, while 60 per cent of the population is involved in farming.

State’s agriculture director, Altaf Aijaz Andrabi, told Gaon Connection over the phone: “Farming has its own complete system. It does not draw upon external stimulus. The farmers of Jammu and Kashmir are involved in fruit cultivation, which is weather based. Now, at this time, the farmers of apples, cherries and saffron need medicines, but they are not able to get it. If there is no timely spraying, it will have a direct bearing on production. And it will have a direct impact on the country because Jammu and Kashmir tops in the production of apples, saffron and cherries.”