Kashmir Apple Growers Demand PM Fasal Bima Yojana Cover As Climate Change Hits Crop
The initial assessment by the horticulture department has estimated an 80-90 per cent loss of apples in Shopian district in Monday's hailstorm.
Published : June 4, 2025 at 7:51 PM IST
Srinagar: With climate change impacting the weather pattern in Jammu and Kashmir, the recurrent hail and wind storms have wreaked havoc on apple and cherry orchards across Kashmir. The lack of crop insurance for apples aggravates their financial agony.
Peerzada Muhammad Shafi of Wadipora in Shopian district is farming apples on his two acres (16 kanals) of land. This year Shafi expected 3000 apple boxes from his orchards that would fetch him around Rs 35 lakhs. But the heavy hailstorm in Wadipora and a dozen other villages on Monday left Shafi's orchards devastated.
“The hailstorm lasted for 30 minutes, and it damaged 90 per cent of the apple crop of my orchards and damaged trees,” Shafi said. “It will take three years for the plants to recover. I spent 5 lakh on pesticides and labour on my orchards till now. Now, I have to spend more money on the recovery of plants,” he told ETV Bharat.
The initial assessment by the horticulture department has estimated an 80-90 per cent loss of apples in Shopian district in Monday's hailstorm, according to the document assessed by ETV Bharat.
Between April and May, hailstorms occurred in Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Baramulla and Kupwara districts on many occasions. It damaged apple and cherry crops worth lakhs. The Jammu and Kashmir government under the State Disaster Response Force provides a relief of Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 to orchardists for the damage rendered by the changing weather conditions.
“Can one or five thousand rupees compensate us for losses in lakhs? This seems an insult to farmers,” Shafi said.
The fruit growers in Kashmir have been demanding covering their cash crop under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. For Jammu and Kashmir this insurance scheme covers only maize and paddy.
CPI(M) legislator M Y Tarigami said only one district in Kashmir was included, while several districts in Jammu were covered under the scheme.
Farmers in the Kashmir Valley are converting paddylands into apple orchards on a large scale given the money it fetches for farmers compared to rice. Per the horticulture department of the JK government, Kashmir produces 20-30 lakh MT of apples every year, and this sector provides a livelihood to 35 lakh persons every year.
Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, President of the Apple Federation of Kashmir, said the orchardists' associations are demanding covering apples under the PM insurance scheme, but the administration is now heeding them.
“Maize and paddy have been enlisted for insurance under this scheme, but not apples and other fruits, which are now becoming the main source of farmers income and livelihood,” Bhat added.
Tarigami, who supports the Omar Abdullah-led government, said the PMFBY scheme has failed to provide adequate protection to farmers in the Valley due to the initial reluctance of insurance agencies and a lack of consistent government follow-through.
Fruit growers are insisting that the Jammu and Kashmir government led by Omar Abdullah must initiate the process of insurance for the horticulture sector.
ETV Bharat learnt that the Jammu and Kashmir government had floated tenders some time back, but none of the companies qualified for the bid after the evaluation committee headed by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo evaluated the tenders.
Minister for Agriculture and Horticulture Javed Dar, who admitted that climate change is impacting the horticulture sector in JK, told ETV Bharat that they are launching fresh tenders for crop insurance, as in the previous tender no bidders qualified for the tender.
“I am very keen on the implementation of crop insurance for apple growers. In coming months, it should fructify,” Dar added.
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