As the first hints of color return to the almond trees signalling the arrival of spring and the promise of a plentiful apple harvest, there is a dark cloud hanging over the orchards in Kashmir.
The orchardists in the Valley, as the fruit season draws closer, are not just fighting environmental problems such as blight and bad weather but rather the much larger problem of a growing amount of substandard and counterfeit pesticides and fertilisers being sold on the market.
The economy of Kashmir has been built on horticulture for generations; the area’s primary products, such as saffron, walnuts and the world-famous Kashmiri apples, are not only products sold in stores; they are a way of life for the people of the region and a major source of income for the hundreds of thousands of families living there.
When an orchardist buys pesticides or fertilisers to protect their trees, they are not just purchasing a product, but they are wagering their entire year’s worth of living on whether or not the product works.
The rumours of spurious agricultural inputs have turned into a chorus of discontent as reports continue to come out regarding pesticide solutions not working at killing any of the unwanted pests that inhabit the orchards, thus leading to infestations of these pests completely destroying the crops.
Many of the orchardists have had similar complaints that fertiliser products being applied to the soil fail to provide any benefit whatsoever, leaving the soil devoid of nutrients and, therefore, weakening their trees.
The loss of the wasted produce results in more than just a financial loss, as it will cause a ripple effect in the community. A lost growing season, a failed harvest caused by chemicals being diluted or by using chemicals that are falsified and causing farmers to enter into a debt trap from which they will have trouble recuperating.
There is a complicated story regarding why these products are on the market. The needs of farmers for agricultural inputs far outweigh the availability of high-quality inputs creating an unregulated black market for unapproved inputs.
These traders usually function through informal networks selling diluted chemicals of dishonest origins, or counterfeiting reputable brand names by putting them in identical packaging and selling them to unsuspecting farmers.
Many of the chemicals contained within these products are manufactured without any regulatory oversight, and therefore contain unknown/banned chemicals. These chemicals will destroy the soil, contaminate the ground water, and kill off beneficial insects, which are essential to help maintain a healthy orchard.
Moreover, if the chemicals cause toxic residues to remain on the fruit, this would have a significant impact on the export market of Kashmiri fruit. The rejection of just one shipment in a foreign port due to contamination will tarnish the reputation of the whole Valley’s produce for years.
