In many areas of Jammu and Kashmir, establishment of scores of cold storage facilities has turned out to be a beacon of hope for the growers that they feel can secure their annual hard work and lifeline.
For a long time, the growers has been living in a fear of losing their hard work and the only source of their livelihoods. Bu the mushrooming of cold storage units have gave them a sigh of relief wherein they can stay calm even if there are any hurdles on the highway or due to inclement weather conditions.
Earlier, during these circumstances, the fruit laden trucks usually used to stuck in the middle of the destination but now the farmers can choose the right time to send their harvest to the markets.
The fruit, which was to become rotten perishables, was then just stuck; and the window of opportunity to execute unitary plans of action maximized the inevitable loss, but also created a guessing wager of some extent over the sustainability of livelihoods of families and community.
But the varied story continues and is notably different now. The cold storage faculties, located at various junctions in the Souk Kashmir regions have guaranteed growers reliability.
Consider, as an example, the highway could close. The response goes from panic to wait and see. Where one dreaded loss of sale, success becomes a certainty.
Cold store facilities in the south of Kashmir are now largely connected to the economic security of growers as they have the indefinite ability to wait for the highway to open without risking their margins of profit, nor are they forced to fire sale out of necessity or watch their crops rot away.
Cold storage facilities are calculated expressions of community economic development and infrastructure. Facilities developed with significant investment with the understanding of potential for the horticulture industry of Kashmir.
It has been an employer of the local workforce, it has been an engine for technical training and education, and it has built a more resilient and self-sustaining agri-food ecosystem right here in our own country, in Kashmir.
Ultimately, what this has created and fostered is an incredibly powerful sense of confidence. The apple grower from south Kashmir is no longer beholden to just one road. This change in confidence is as significant as the change in economic position.
