Kashmir’s Apple Industry Relies Heavily on Imported High-Density Plants as Pest Threats Rise and Local Production Lags

SRINAGAR: Even as Jammu Kashmir’s apple industry continues its push toward modernisation through high-density plantations, the government’s latest disclosures in the Legislative Assembly have shown that the Union Territory remains heavily dependent on imported planting material. The figures, tabled in response to a starred question by MLA Shabir Ahmad Kullay, reveal that the majority of high-density apple plants over the past two years were imported from European countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Turkey, raising new concerns about plant health, biosecurity loopholes, and the sustainability of Kashmir’s horticultural sector.

According to the Horticulture Department, a total of 55,162 high-density apple plants and other fruit varieties were imported into Jammu Kashmir during the last two years. Most of these came through private agencies empanelled with the department, including H.N. Agri Serve Pvt. Ltd, Golden Agrisense OPC Pvt. Ltd, Barkat Agro Farms Pvt. Ltd, Meva Agro Products Pvt. Ltd, and Frutech Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, among others. The imported varieties included Gala, Red Delicious, and improved strains of cherry and apple rootstock, all cleared by the Exim Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, under quarantine and phytosanitary regulations.

The government said the imports were aimed at “modernising and rejuvenating” the horticulture sector to increase yield and fruit quality, but it admitted that the local nursery sector was still years away from achieving self-reliance. “It would take approximately ten years to meet the local demand through indigenous nursery owners,” the department stated.

To reduce dependence on imported material, the government has launched initiatives under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) and the Jammu Kashmir Competitiveness Improvement Project (JKCIP) to support the creation of Mother Orchards, Rootstock Banks, and Plant Propagation Units across districts. These are expected to produce disease-free, high-quality planting material within the Union Territory in the long run.

However, the government also acknowledged that imported material may have contributed to new pest challenges in recent years. Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns have been linked to an increase in leaf miner and aphid infestations across apple orchards in the Kashmir Valley. Although research institutions have not yet determined whether the leaf miner pest was introduced from outside or was indigenous and reactivated by climatic shifts, officials conceded that “loopholes in quarantine regulations” might have allowed entry of foreign-origin pests.

To counter the threat, the Department of Horticulture, in collaboration with SKUAST-Kashmir, has intensified pest monitoring, field surveillance, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) interventions. The department has launched community-based control drives and issued advisories for orchardists to undertake collective, coordinated spraying rather than individual efforts, which have proved ineffective. Large-scale insecticide spraying through drones, free of cost, has been introduced to protect apple orchards, though blanket spraying has been discouraged due to environmental concerns and fragmented landholdings.

Officials said the IPM strategy combines biological control agents, cultural practices, and bio-insecticides to manage pest resurgence effectively. Awareness programmes for orchardists are also being organised across major fruit-growing districts, including Shopian, which remains the heart of Kashmir’s apple economy.

For the year 2025–26, the government has set a target of 30 hectares (around 600 kanals) of high-density plantation for Shopian district alone under the revised high-density plantation scheme. The broader plan envisages 5,500 hectares of high-density plantation across Jammu and Kashmir over the next decade, depending on resource availability.

On the question of subsidies for pesticides, fungicides, and insecticides, the government clarified that no such direct subsidy is provided in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, the administration promotes sustainable farming practices by subsidising vermi compost units at fifty per cent of the cost, up to a maximum of Rs 50,000 per unit, to encourage the use of organic manure.

While these efforts mark a significant step toward balancing productivity with environmental safety, experts say the heavy dependence on imported plant material exposes the region to biological risks. Strengthening quarantine checks at entry points like Lakhanpur, upgrading testing infrastructure, and incentivising local nursery growers will be critical to ensuring that Kashmir’s orchard economy—worth thousands of crores annually—remains both profitable and resilient in the face of climate change and pest invasions.