Kashmir’s dry winter hits apple trade at the roots

₹100 crore.“This season our sales have declined by 25-30%,” Salam told Mint. “Fruit growers are hesitant to plant trees in dry soil.”Apples dominate Kashmir’s horticulture economy, with production estimated at about 2.05 million tonnes in the 2025 season, a slight decline of 0.4% from 2024, according to official data.The 2026 harvest season is still around six months away.The region produces roughly 75% of India’s apples, making it the country’s primary supplier.

Growers however attribute the last season as disastrous, marked by erratic weather, floods, landslides and highway closures during the peak harvest, which led to widespread losses in orchards and while transporting the produce to markets.The hesitation is now visible across the Valley’s network of nurseries that supply apple saplings to orchards across Kashmir and parts of northern India.Since mid-February, daytime temperatures have hovered between 20°C and 21°C, around 9-11 degrees above normal, while rain and snowfall have been sharply deficient. In Srinagar, February rainfall fell to just 5.3 millimetres, the lowest recorded for the month since 1960.“Land becomes very hard during such dry spells,” said Shabir Ahmad Kumar, a 46-year-old nursery grower who has been associated with the business since 2007.“When the soil is dry, plants lose moisture quickly,” Kumar said.

“High-density varieties like M9 require more water, so prolonged dry conditions can damage young plants.”“There is very little moisture in the soil,” said Mohammad Ashraf Wani, a seasoned apple grower from Shopian, also known as Kashmir’s apple bowl. “Even if we plant saplings during dry weather, they may not survive because of the high daytime temperatures.”For nursery growers, that hesitation