Shopian, Oct 12: As the apple harvesting season peaks in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, orchardists are beginning to realise the extent of damage caused to their crop by multiple spells of hailstorms during the current farming season, with growers in some areas reporting losses of more than 60 per cent.
Since April, several spells of hailstorms have lashed dozens of apple-growing villages across the district, damaging fruit in orchards and raising concerns among growers about the quality of this year’s harvest.
The affected villages include Ganowpora, Kanipora, Sindoo Shirmal, Keegam, Zawoora, Mastpora, Pinjora, Largam, Meemander, Gagren, Ramnagri, Amshipora and Heerpora. Several of these villages were hit by hailstorms on multiple occasions, leaving apple growers to contend with repeated damage to their crop.
Although the damage occurred earlier in the growing season, its impact has become more apparent as orchardists pick the fruit and sort it according to quality and grade. Growers say hail marks and other visible blemishes have reduced the market quality of a significant portion of the harvest, pushing much of the affected produce into the lower-grade category.
“The damage is significant. The hailstorms have reduced the quality of the fruit, making it B-grade,” said Bashir Ahmad, an orchardist from Ganowpora.
For growers, the damage is not limited to the quantity of apples harvested. The quality of the fruit also determines the price it fetches in the market, and a shift from higher-grade to lower-grade produce can substantially affect returns from an orchard.
With harvesting now underway, orchardists say they are getting a clearer picture of the losses caused by the hailstorms. Fruit that appeared to have survived the weather events is now being assessed during picking and grading, revealing the extent to which the crop has been affected.
A grower from Heerpora said parts of the village had been battered by hailstorms, damaging apples across orchards.
“How much damage the hailstorms had caused is becoming clear only now, as we harvest the crop,” he said.
The repeated spells of hailstorms have added to the concerns of orchardists at a crucial stage of the agricultural calendar. Shopian is one of south Kashmir’s major apple-producing districts, and the harvest provides an important source of income for farming families and others associated with the trade.
For affected growers, the immediate concern is how much of the harvested fruit will meet the standards required for better prices. Even when apples remain suitable for sale, visible damage can affect their grading and market value, leaving farmers with lower returns than expected.
“ The damage is so much that I am unable to recoup the input costs”, said Bahsir Ahmad, a farmer from Amshipora.
As harvesting continues across the district, orchardists are assessing the damage village by village. Growers in some affected areas estimate that losses have exceeded 70 per cent, though the overall extent of damage across Shopian remains to be established.
The final impact on growers’ earnings will become clearer as the harvest progresses and the damaged fruit is graded and sold in the market.
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