Shopian, Oct 7: As the apple harvest season draws to a close in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, many orchard owners are grappling with severe losses.

Some are so disheartened that they almost chose not to pick the fruit this year.

The crisis traces back to a sudden and intense hailstorm that swept through several villages of the district in June, pelting apple orchards with chickpea-sized hailstones and causing widespread damage.

Scores of villages, including Hushanpora, Wadipora, Handew, and Nagbal in the Imam Sahab belt, were among the worst hit.

“Almost the entire crop was ruined before it could mature,” said Rizwan Ahmad, a farmer from Wadipora. “We almost harvested nothing as the fruit was badly damaged.”

For hundreds of families in the area, apple farming is the primary source

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