Farmers in trouble As Apple industry in our Kashmir faces huge losses this Year.

Hello, my dear Steemit friends, I hope you are all fine and safe. Today I am going to share some things regarding the apple industry in my area. What is happening with our business and many more So let's start without wasting your precious time.

I myself belong to Kashmir, and I think you have heard about our Kashmir. My Kashmir has two parts; one belongs to Pakistan and the other to India. I belong to Indian-occupied Kashmir. In Kashmir, almost 80 percent of the population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture. Here, mainly, two agricultural practises are adopted: rice formation and apple cultivation. Here are almost many thousands of tonnes of production per year. In India, only two states—Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh—produce apples. I myself have an apple orchard, and our family is totally dependent on the apple industry. Like my family, there are thousands of families that depend on this industry.

The apple industry provides food for many people, from the owner of the orchard to the buyer. We harvest apples in the autumn season. Last year, the price of apples was fantastic. Every farmer was earning money for his living and was happy. Last year, the rate of apple boxes was almost 1,000 per box. This year, the prices fell by half or more. This year, we sell one box for four hundred rupees. I think the price is not sufficient for the farmer.

Now let's talk about the investment that farmers have made throughout the year for production and what they are gaining this year at last. I think this year the farmer is in the red. First, at the beginning of the year, we have to give fertiliser that costs many thousands of rupees. Throughout the year, farmers have applied more than 10 sprays of pesticides, which also cost many thousands of rupees. Also, farmers have to protect it from many natural disasters like huge rainfall and, some times, snow. also at the time when the apples are ready for harvesting. The farmer needs to bring boxes for the apples and a lot of workers, which costs more for farmers.

There are other investments that the farmer made in Apple like transportation, packing, grading, cold storage, etc., and finally, the most important thing that the farmer gave to this industry was his hard work throughout the year. At the end, when the farmer counts all the investments he made throughout the year and then checks what he has earned from these apples this year, he comes to a deep shock because he is in a big loss despite his hard work. Farmers this year think that if we harvest apples from the orchard, that may reduce some losses.

Now let's talk about the reasons for these huge losses in this industry. A lot of people have lots of reasons for these losses, but I think there are only a few main reasons for them. The first reason is that last year the production of our Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh was low. From the last few years, production was low and demand was too high, which increased the price of Apple by a good margin. This year in every section of our state, the production was too good, which decreased the demand for apples. Some people say that has not had that much impact on apple prices.

Another reason for the huge losses is the illegal import of foreign apples. Some buyers are important apples for other countries via Afghanistan, but without tax, they decrease the rate of our apples here. If the government works on this matter, they can save our apple industry, but from the last few years they have done nothing. Another reason is people didn't show much interest in buying apples this year, which means consumption is lower. Also, some say that excess pesticides have destroyed the taste of apples, which leads to less consumption, and there are many reasons for this. At the end, the only person that gets affected by this is the farmer; other people in this industry have to earn their money.

Now what do growers need to do to save this industry? Growers have to stay strong; they have to work once again next year. There is no option for exit from this industry; we have been doing this work for many hundreds of years. Losses are part of business; in business, one day you will lose and another day you will gain. Let's put this year behind us and start a new journey next year. I hope next year we will gain more and more profit.

Thank you for reading.