SRINAGAR: A sudden and violent hailstorm accompanied by strong winds has left a trail of destruction across Kashmir’s major fruit-growing regions, devastating apple orchards at a critical stage of cultivation and plunging thousands of orchardists into crisis. The calamity has once again brought into sharp focus the longstanding demand for a comprehensive crop insurance scheme for the region’s horticulture sector.
The most severe impact was felt in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, particularly in the Imam Sahab belt, where villages such as Nagbal, Handew, Wadipora, Alshipora and Dasu were battered by hailstones and heavy rains around 2:30 PM on Monday. The storm lasted over fifteen minutes and was accompanied by intense lightning and high-speed winds that tore through apple trees, damaging the fruit and branches alike. The timing of the hailstorm, when apples were developing, means the economic losses will be steep and lasting.
Fruit growers from these affected areas have described the destruction as irreparable. Entire orchards, many of which serve as the sole source of income for families, were stripped bare in minutes. The shockwave of this loss was not confined to Shopian alone. Reports have emerged from other districts, including Kulgam, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, and parts of Handwara and Rafiabad, where orchardists too suffered similar damage due to gusty winds and hail in recent days. Collectively, these incidents have dealt a heavy blow to Kashmir’s horticulture industry, which remains one of the region’s economic pillars.
What has compounded the growers’ distress is the absence of any protective safety net. The Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union, which represents thousands of orchardists across the Valley, has strongly reiterated its demand for the implementation of a crop insurance scheme. In a statement issued by its chairman, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, who also heads the New Kashmir Fruit Association, the Union expressed deep concern that despite repeated assurances and announcements by both the central and union territory governments, no such scheme has yet been introduced on the ground.
Basheer lamented that ninety per cent of fruit growers in the Valley are small and marginal farmers who rely entirely on income generated from their orchards. When natural disasters strike, these growers are left exposed, with no financial recourse or compensation. Without an insurance mechanism in place, even a single bad weather event can wipe out a year’s earnings and push entire families into debt and despair.
The Union has urged the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and the Chief Minister of the Union Territory to treat this situation as an emergency. In addition to seeking immediate implementation of crop insurance, it has asked the administration to arrange for protective nets for orchards at subsidised rates to minimise hail-related damage in the future. Furthermore, the Union has called for horticulture experts and officers from SKUAST and the Horticulture Department to conduct thorough on-ground assessments of the losses in all affected areas and prepare reports swiftly. It has also appealed for a comprehensive and reasonable compensation package to be announced without delay to support the affected growers.
Growers say this hailstorm is not just a meteorological event but a reminder of their growing vulnerability in the face of climate uncertainty. With each passing year, weather patterns have become increasingly erratic and extreme, yet the institutional support for orchardists has not evolved to match the scale of the threat. Many farmers now believe that unless urgent structural reforms are introduced, particularly the roll-out of an inclusive crop insurance programme, the sustainability of Kashmir’s fruit economy will remain at risk.
The destruction caused by Monday’s storm is still being assessed, but the emotional and financial toll is already visible. In the villages of Shopian, trees once laden with promise now stand stripped and broken. For the growers, the storm did not merely damage fruit; it shattered a year’s worth of labour, hope, and investment. Without intervention, the aftershocks of this disaster could echo far beyond the orchards, affecting every sector tied to Kashmir’s cherished fruit industry.
