Onlykashmir.in News Desk
A sudden and intense hailstorm accompanied by strong winds tore through several villages of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday afternoon, leaving fruit growers counting losses just weeks before the region’s crucial apple harvest season begins.
The storm struck Kaprin, Moatjan, Feeripora and adjoining villages with little warning, local residents said, battering orchards that were heavy with fruit at this stage of the season. Growers described watching helplessly as hailstones and gusting winds knocked large quantities of apples to the ground, while much of the fruit that remained on the trees bore visible marks of hail damage, raising fears over its quality and eventual market value.
Shopian, often described as the apple bowl of Kashmir, accounts for a significant share of the Valley’s horticultural output, and even localised weather damage in the district can have an outsized impact on the region’s overall fruit economy. For growers already operating on thin margins after years of price volatility, cold storage shortages and transport disruptions, Friday’s storm adds another layer of financial strain heading into the peak harvest window.
Affected orchardists urged the administration to move quickly and conduct a comprehensive, village-level assessment of the damage, arguing that timely documentation is essential if compensation is to reach growers before the fruit is harvested and sold. Delayed assessments, they said, have in the past left many farmers without adequate relief even after significant crop losses.
The incident has also revived long-standing demands from the horticulture sector for the full implementation of a comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme tailored to Kashmir’s fruit growers. Orchardists said recurring hailstorms, unseasonal winds and other weather-related disasters have made their livelihoods increasingly precarious, and that a robust insurance mechanism would offer a crucial financial cushion against such recurring losses.
This is not the first time Shopian’s orchards have been hit this year. Growers pointed to earlier hailstorm damage in the district in recent months, incidents that had similarly prompted calls for government intervention, damage assessment and financial assistance, but which, according to local farmers, have yet to translate into a lasting insurance safety net.
With climate variability increasingly disrupting Kashmir’s traditionally predictable growing season, horticulture experts have repeatedly flagged the need for proactive weather advisories, hail-netting infrastructure and insurance coverage to protect the Valley’s apple economy, which supports hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across south Kashmir.
