Suhaib John Bhat of Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir was looking forward to a bumper harvest from his five apple orchards this year. What he has been left with are trees laden with a bountiful crop, but with discoloured fruits with black lesions on them. The entire orchard is affected by scab disease. 

Apple scab disease is caused by fungus scientifically known as Venturia inaequalis. The farmer, who is 35 years old, has already seen 30 per cent of his harvest go to ruin. He does not expect a good price from the remaining apples too.

The nationwide COVID-19 lockdown to prevent the spread of the pandemic took a toll on the orchards. Apple trees bloom during March and April, and this is when pesticides are sprayed to prevent the crop from diseases and pests. The lockdown ensured the pesticide never reached the farmers. And so, apple orchards became vulnerable to diseases such as scab.  

“This time, we expected a good yield of apple. However, several farmers were unable to get the required pesticide for their orchards. So, despite good fruiting, I’ve already lost thirty per cent of it to scab,” Suhaib John Bhat told Gaon Connection. This is a huge loss, because half the population of Jammu and Kashmir is directly or indirectly involved in apple cultivation and trading.

“Incessant rains in March and April and a persistent cloud cover provided a conducive environment for the scab to infest orchards,” Mustaq Ahmed Bhat, scientist at the department of plant pathology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, told Gaon Connection. 

“In the initial stages of infestation, it rained, and this prevented the spraying of pesticides. By the time the rain stopped, it was too late to spray, and the disease spread out of control,” Mustaq Ahmed Bhat added.

Apples are generally susceptible to a host of viral and fungal diseases. In 1935, the Kashmir valley reported scab infestation for the first time in India. The disease had caused large-scale damage then to fruits and even leaves. 

The scab is not a new issue in Kashmir’s orchards. “It is always present, and that is why farmers are advised to protect their orchards. They have to spray orchards for 10-15 days in the initial days of the crop. This time, the lockdown and rainfall ensured that did not happen,”  Mustaq Ahmed Bhat explained.

Earlier this year, scab infection was also reported from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. The state first witnessed scab infection in 1977, and then in 1982 and 1983. This year, the damage has been substantial. According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, an apex body under the Centre’s ministry of commerce and industry, Kashmir has the highest apple production in India (77 per cent), followed by Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

Once an orchard is infested, it requires special care to contain the spread of scab. Infected leaves that are shed have to be removed carefully and destroyed before they cause further damage. Aizaz Ahmad Bhat, director, directorate of horticulture, Kashmir, told Gaon Connection that while they could not estimate damage this early, “production is expected to be lower than last year. The consistent rains have also affected the yield”.

The only sliver of hope this time for apple farmers in Kashmir was that they did not have to travel long distances to sell their apples. With no tourists, hotels opened up to apple traders, and “we were able to find apple traders every one or two kilometres”, said Suhaib John Bhat.

Interestingly, people from other states bring their bees to apple orchards in Kashmir for pollination. “That did not happen this year, due to the pandemic,”  Aizaz Ahmad Bhat said.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Gaon Connection conducted a national survey on the Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on rural India. It highlighted that the period was challenging for farmers, particularly those who cultivated vegetables and fruits. About 41 per cent of the farmers surveyed said that they could not reap their crops in time, 55 per cent of farmers said they could not sell their produce on time, and close to 38 per cent had to sell their produce to private traders. 

Since last winter, farmers in Kashmir valley have been facing issues. These were compounded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The problem began in November last year, when we had a lot of snowfall. This did not allow us to gather the infected leaves at the orchards. The scab spread,” Sajjad Ahmad, a farmer in Shopian, about 50 kilometres from Srinagar, told Gaon Connection. 

A seven-member team of the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sangharsh Samnvaya Samiti had visited Jammu and Kashmir last year and, in its report on November 16, 2019, stated that curfew since August 5 and heavy snowfall had caused farmers a loss of at least Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore. However, the state agriculture department pegged the damage at Rs 3,500 crore. The same department says that the annual turnover of the horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir is about Rs 10,000 crore. This translates into an “official” loss of one-third the harvest.

Will 2020 end with further accumulation of losses for the apple farmers of Jammu and Kashmir?

Read the story in Hindi here.