Kashmiri walnut producers and growers are presently a worried lot due to the decline in the demand and low rates.
According to the stakeholders here the lack of a walnut market (mandi) in Kashmir, and huge influx of imported walnuts from California in India have become major concern for the local growers, dealers and exporters.
Zainul Abideen, president, Kashmir Food Processors’ Association told KP the lack of research on walnut processing has also contributed to the downfall of this dry fruit.
“While Jammu has a walnut mandi, Kashmir has none,” Abideen said, adding that a proposal for similar market for Kashmir Valley for which 100 kanals of land had been earmarked near Awantipora is yet to be implemented.
“After the California almond, now it is the California walnut that is hitting the Kashmiri walnut. Government of India is promoting California walnut by levying quite little import duty on it,” he said.
Despite Kashmiri walnut being organic, “the inorganic California dry fruit has flooded the Indian market,” he added.
“No fertilizers or pesticides are used in Kashmiri walnut while California walnut is inorganic. Still California product has much demand. Global recession also has a role to bring down the demand of Kashmiri Walnut,” Abideen said.
Muhammad Ashraf Mir of Mir Walnut (a processing unit) said: “The growers and processors had approached former horticulture minister Abdul Rehman Veeri but to no avail.”
According to the stakeholders the imports from California have increased sharply this year.
“While only 48 containers of California walnuts were imported into India in 2015, this year the position is that 252 containers have already been imported only this month. We are worried since such huge imports will have damaging effect on the Kashmiri walnut,” Mir said.
He said the buyers are completely neglecting the medicinal values of the Kashmiri walnut and getting lured by the ‘fancy’ packaging of the California walnut.
“As far stocks are concerned almost 50 – 60 per cent walnut stock is still lying unsold with the growers,” he said.
However, J&K State Agro Industries Development Corporation has decided to set up a common post-harvest facility at Khonmoh for the walnut growers.
A senior official of the corporation told KP that the walnut cleaning, grading and packaging unit has been approved by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Authority Development (APEDA) for which a grant has also been sanctioned.
“A state-of-the-art colour sorter machine will be commissioned at the walnut unit to ensure proper sorting of the walnuts. The unit will include all processes such as removing green shells from walnuts without using hands and drying of walnuts within few hours compared to long time that manual removing of shell takes,” the official said.
The walnut processing unit would be of a huge benefit. In 2013-14, 2.20 lakh MT walnuts were produced in the Valley on 95,600 hectare area.
