With Around 25000 Hectares Of Land Under Cultivation, Horticulture Production Of Doda And Kishtwar Way Behind Kashmir Valley
The climatic condition of these two districts is just like Kashmir valley and has the potential of growing quality products, just like Kashmir valley.
Published : August 1, 2025 at 6:24 PM IST
|Updated : August 1, 2025 at 8:38 PM IST
By Amir Tantray
Jammu: As horticulture continues to be one of the major backbones of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, one area which has a lot of potential and fertile land is being ignored by the government in terms of marketing and focused attention.
The twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar have a suitable climate for horticulture production, and hundreds of hectares of land are under apple, apricot and other fruit production, but their produce remains confined to their respective areas without being exported to other areas of the country.
The climatic condition of these two districts is just like Kashmir valley and has the potential of growing quality products, just like Kashmir valley. The horticulture department in the past few years has pushed efforts to boost production and has established several orchards with the help of fruit growers, but the produce doesn’t move out of their area.
As per the details given by the horticulture department of both the districts, about 25000 hectares of land in both the districts are under cultivation for different kinds of fruits, with apples and walnuts being the two major products of the region.
In Doda district, 14834.44 hectares of land is under cultivation which include 6558.07 hectares under walnut cultivation, 5832.19 hectares of land under apple cultivation, 1340.3 hectares under pear cultivation, 262.7 hectares under apricot cultivation, 211.93 hectares under olive cultivation and other fruits like peach, plum, cherry, grapes, kiwi, fig, strawberry, kinnow, wild apple, persimmon, lime, pomegranate, peanut, almond and chestnut are cultivated under remaining land.
The total production of these fruits is around 33208.54 metric tons, but the major share is of walnut and apple. Walnut alone has around 25310.23 metric tons of produce in the district, followed by apple production of around 5480.56 metric tons. Apricot has a production of around 1725.83 metric tons, and the rest of the production is shared by different fruits.
In Kishtwar district, 9907.50 hectares of land is under cultivation which include 4849.50 hectares under walnut cultivation, 3573 hectares of land under apple cultivation, 687 hectares under apricot cultivation, 285 hectares under pear cultivation, 190 hectares under plum, 175 hectares under peach cultivation and fruits like cherry, kiwi, strawberry, citrus, lime, grape, pomegranate and other fruits are cultivated on the remaining land.
Walnut production in Kishtwar district is the highest, with 14770 metric tons produced every year, followed by 7020 metric tons of apples. Apricot production is around 1420 metric tons, followed by 547 metric tons of pears. The rest of the production is shared by other fruits.
Despite having such a huge production of horticulture products, these two districts continue to be ignored by the Jammu and Kashmir government. Neither of these districts has a single fruit or vegetable mandi in the area, and they remain dependent on the fruit markets of Kashmir valley or Jammu city.
A few years ago, the fruit growers of this district were told to take their produce to markets in Kashmir valley and from there it would be sent to different areas of the country.
Commenting on the issues being faced by the horticulture sector in its district, Chief Horticulture Officer Kishtwar Sajid Mustafa said, "The district is primarily rainfed, and the rainfall is unevenly distributed in the season. We lack fruit mandis where fruit growers could have taken their produce, which is one of the major reasons."
"Moreover, there is limited participation of private entrepreneurs due to which the district lacks modern techniques of plantation like modified high-density plantation of apple, walnut and other fruits," he added.
Adding to this, the chief horticulture officer at Doda, Raghunath, said, "These entrepreneurs don't turn to our areas because the cap of Rs two lakh kept by the government under this scheme doesn't suit them and they lack interest in taking up such a scheme in the region."
Moreover, there is also an acute shortage of officers and field staff in the department, as one officer has to cover a lot of area to function.
The orchards in both these districts are mostly on the hills, which lack proper road connectivity. The fruit growers have to bring their produce on motorable roads by paying a hefty amount to labourers, which increases the cost of the product as well.
In Kashmir valley, fruit growers have better irrigation facilities, road connectivity and fruit markets available, which put them way above the growers of Doda and Kishtwar districts, claimed Raghu Nath, CHO Doda.
"The private entrepreneurs in Kashmir valley have adopted the government's scheme of adopting high-density plantation, which has increased their produce, and they get more money in return by putting less money and effort, thereby enabling the shift of traditional horticulture to modern horticulture," the CHO Doda added.
