Wood Bridge is now apple of their eye

Though trade is admittedly not even a blip on the administrators’ radars on either side of the border right now, hope is springing anew in the fruit belt. Spread over more than 3,500 hectares of land, the apple industry of Kashmir is the main support for its fragile economy. North Kashmir, the apple bowl of the Valley, is, in fact, entirely dependent on this trade.

‘‘We have 27,301 hectares of land under apple cultivation in Baramulla district alone,’’ says Mohammad Sikander, district horticulture officer, Baramulla. ‘‘Our district produces more than 4,85,000 metric tonnes of fruit.’’

But the nearest market, New Delhi, is three days away on a weather-dependent Srinagar-Jammu road. The proposed Mughal road, which is supposed to provide another link between the Valley and Jammu, can help.

But it is the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad link that has apple-growers all excited. ‘‘This road will take our apples to international markets within five to eight hours. What more could we desire?’’ says Haji Ghulam Mohammad Kaboo, vice-president of the Handwara Fruit Growers’ Association. ‘‘You can call it a miracle. It undoubtedly is a beginning for our dream to come true. We can foresee a prosperous future.’’

For one, transportation costs and time taken will be considerably reduced. ‘‘There will be a significant drop in the transportation costs,’’ says Mushtaq Ahmad Palla, a fruit grower in Sopore. ‘‘If we spend Rs 40-50 on the Delhi road for a box of apples weighing between 12 and 15 kg, the Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi route will cost us Rs 10. Moreover, it will take us just five hours to reach Rawalpindi.’’

If the bonhomie between the two neighbouring countries continues and the road is opened for trade, fruit-growers will be the first to rejoice. ‘‘There is an attractive market for the Kashmiri apple in Pakistan and its Kashmir,’’ says Prof Nisar Ali, an economist. ‘‘In Pakistan, lower quality apples are sold at much higher rates. It is also an immediate market available to the growers of North Kashmir especially Sopore and Baramulla.’’

Kashmir produces a number of varieties of apples—Delicious, American, Maharaji—and each variety is, according to the taste, marketed in different regions.