Farmers decry low compensation, lack of safety net as hailstorm devastates Kashmir orchards

Farmers across Kashmir have decried inadequate compensation and the absence of a reliable safety net after a sudden hailstorm on April 6 battered dozens of villages, damaging apple blossoms and dashing the hopes of hundreds of farming families.

The storm affected more than 33 villages across Shopian, Kulgam and Bandipora districts, leaving a trail of destruction in key horticulture belts at a crucial stage of the crop cycle.

Farooq Ahmad, a farmer from Shopian, said the hailstorm lasted barely five to six minutes but caused significant damage in villages such as Kanjiulla, Sedow, Saidpora Payeen and Mandujan.

“It hit at a critical stage and damaged the apple blossom,” he said, adding that the short duration of the storm belied the scale of losses it inflicted.

Farmers said compensation provided in previous instances had been far below their actual losses. “Last year, affected farmers were given only ₹800 to ₹1,000,” said Bashir Ahmad, another farmer from Shopian, terming the relief amount insufficient to cover even basic input costs.

Similar weather events in recent years have compounded the distress of orchardists. In 2025, a hailstorm swept through several villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, destroying apple orchards and leaving many farmers with little to harvest.

Mohammad Ashraf Wani, president of the Fruit Mandi Shopian, said the absence of a robust safety net continues to expose growers to repeated losses. “We have long demanded the introduction of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, but nothing has been implemented so far,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government informed the Legislative Assembly during the last budget session that Agriculture Insurance Company of India and Tata AIG General Insurance have emerged as the lowest bidders for implementing the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) for apple and saffron crops in Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to a starred question on crop insurance for apple growers, the government said the scheme has been extended to major horticulture crops and that the tendering process has been completed, with allotment of work to the selected firms underway.

It said four bids were received for apple and saffron crops in the Kashmir division and five for notified crops in the Jammu division. After evaluation, the two insurers were selected for three clusters in Kashmir — K1, K2 and K3 — and one cluster in Jammu (J1).

Under the scheme, apple and saffron crops in the Kashmir division and mango, litchi and saffron in Kishtwar district of the Jammu division will be covered through a weather-index model. The government said payouts would be linked to predefined weather parameters recorded at designated stations, enabling faster and more transparent claim settlement compared with conventional crop loss assessments.

However, farmers said the effectiveness of the scheme would depend entirely on its timely implementation, as recurring weather shocks continue to threaten livelihoods in Kashmir’s horticulture sector.

They reiterated that without adequate compensation mechanisms and a functional crop insurance system, orchardists remain vulnerable to sudden climatic events that can wipe out an entire season’s income within minutes.