Sources claim that Kashmir's apple output is projected to plummet by almost 40 percent due to unfavorable weather and scab disease. The apple harvest has begun, but growers are not really excited.
Bashir Ahmad Basheer, president of the All Kashmir Fruit Growers Union President: “This year's unseasonal rainfall in July, when the plants' buds were completely blooming, caused the scab disease to spread across the fruit trees. Despite the Horticulture Department’s instructions, the essential pesticides were used to combat the scab disease, but the flowered buds on the trees started to fall off significantly, which resulted in less production this year.”
He said that as per their preliminary estimates, there would be 40 percent less apple production this year. Kashmir on average produces over 2 mln tons of apples every year, a figure that in some years even touches 2.5 mln tons.
Mohammad Yousuf, an apple grower from Shopian, said they had around 1,000 boxes of apples last year and this year, it would hardly be around 400 to 500. Besides having less production, the size of apples is also small.
Source: roshankashmir.net