On an expected note, fruit growers in Kashmir have demanded minimum support price (MSP) for cherry as despite the high yield this year farmers are facing huge losses mainly because of limited demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Kashmir Fruit Growers cum Dealers Union (KFGDU) has criticised the administration of Jammu and Kashmir for its “failure” with regard to offering right kind of air and railway facilities for transporting the fruit at the time of Covid-19 restrictions.
The union requested to the Lt Governor’s administration for consideration of minimum support prices of cherry at Rs 100/kg so that the poor cherry growers of the valley, who have constantly suffered heavy losses since 2014 devastating floods, may feel a sigh of relief.
According to officials, the tentative figures showed the production of cherries in the Kashmir Valley this year is about 12,000 metric tonnes. Last year, the figure was around 11,700 metric tonnes.
Kashmir exports some 3,500 to 4000 metric tonnes of cherries to other states every year. According to the union, there was around Rs 150-200 crore turnover cherry on an yearly basis of which 60% of the total comes from Makhmali and Mishri varieties which were traditionally sent to Mumbai markets.
Kashmir produces four types of cherries—Awwal Number, Double, Mishri and Makhmali —with the last two sold to other states.
