Kashmir’s walnut industry is now fighting for survival due to the poor infrastructure, weak market linkages, and growing competition from foreign producers. Notably, India cultivates around 320,000 metric tonnes of walnuts and nearly 95% contributing from Jammu and Kashmir in the total production. Not only this, but the walnut industry sector has also been affected by the absence of modern processing and packaging facilities and organized dry fruit markets. Apparently, several walnut processing units have been closed over the past decade, leading to a deeper crisis of struggling the state turned UT’s struggling walnut sector. Notably, nearly 7 lakh people are engaged with the walnut industry in the region.
Walnut Industry’s struggle with post-harvest management
Farmers dry the walnuts manually under unhygienic conditions and use outdated shelling techniques that diminish the product’s export value. One of the industry’s insiders added that the government needs to invest in modern walnut processing clusters and marketing platforms to restore the momentum of the trade.
Interestingly, the region’s walnut orchards produces around three key varieties such as Wonth, Kagazi, and Burzul. Each of the variety has its unique features.The Wonth one, with its hard shell and smaller kernel, is valuable for oil extraction. The second one is Kagazi variety, which is prized for its thin shell and easily removable kernel. It is favoured by consumers. On the other hand, the third one is Burzul walnut which is darker in colour and recognised for its rich flavor. It is often acid-washed to imitate the lighter shade of Kagazi.
However, the farmers reveal thatthese distinctive qualities have failed to translate into better prices due to inadequate branding and export promotion.