Just in time for cherries to bloom, the Indian Railways will launch a parcel train service from Katra to Mumbai on June 3 – perhaps the most significant opportunity ever, to support cherry growers with identifying their single most pressing pain point – transport of their fragile, perishable fruit.
Kashmir’s cherry growers have had to deal with exorbitant ferry charges just to reach markets often hundreds of miles away – taking a chunk out of their profit and sustainable business potential. This new rail service represents much more than reconciling logistics – it could be a lifeline for the horticulture space.
Kashmir cherries are famous for quality, but the very short shelf life renders carrying them very far quite expensive and precarious. The only cost-effective and timely method of shipping cherries to places like Mumbai, Delhi, and other locations was through air freight; often preventing small and marginal farmers from breaking even at best.
The dedicated rail parcel service is set to significantly reduce all associated transport costs, which will mean better returns for farmers and fresher produce for consumers – often at lower prices.
On the basis of its opportune timing, this initiative from Indian Railways deserves credit. It endeavours to provide a faster, cheaper, reliable alternative to exorbitant freight rates allowing farmers to expand their horizons, take advantage of the opportunities to sell further afield and improve their situation.
In the future, many other perishable commodities could use this service model as an alternative route to sell apples, peaches, and other horticultural crops from the region.
The success of the model will really depend on how much the business agrees to produce and meet the necessary conditions for transportation. The Railway must insist that the parcel service stick to tight schedules and storage conditions at all times, so perishables do not rot or spoil.
The government must also provide support by building the cold chain infrastructure and linkages to get a better market for farmers to see benefits.
This is more than just using already dull road and rail facilities; it is a lesson of how even focused infrastructure interventions can turn around the agrarian economy. As the first load of cherries rolls out of Katra, the farmers of the Kashmir heartland have a bit of renewed hope.
If these efforts are sustained and scaled, they could really restore smiles to the barren landscape of Kashmir’s orchards and economic activity in their markets, and therefore contribute to more broadly the emerging horticulture sector of the Valley.
