By: RASHID AHMAD RATHER
Kashmir is renowned for its apples, a crop that sustains thousands of families whose livelihoods, marriages, education, and daily needs depend on orchard income. Today, however, apple growers face a severe crisis caused by two interconnected forces. The first is environmental disruption: hailstorms that destroy blossoms, untimely snowfall that buries unharvested fruit, spring frosts that kill flowers, and drought that weakens trees. These events are becoming more frequent and intense. The second is market failure: when apples reach major Indian markets such as Delhi, Mumbai, or Kolkata, prices are often so low that farmers cannot recover production costs. Middlemen take large commissions, cold storage is expensive, and unsold fruit rots. This paper argues that these two pressures cannot be understood separately. Natural disasters reduce yield and quality, while the market devalues what remains; damaged fruit receives unfair prices, and low prices worsen the impact of environmental loss. Nature and market reinforce each other, producing a “double disaster” for growers. Drawing on existing reports, news, government documents, and scholarship, as well as concepts from moral economy, political ecology, vulnerability, and social suffering, the paper shows that effective support for Kashmiri apple growers requires addressing both environmental and economic vulnerabilities together.
