Abdul Rehman Dar walks through his cherry orchard in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, stopping every few steps to press a cluster of ripening fruit between his fingers. In a few days, labourers will begin picking the deep red cherries from his trees, packing them into small boxes for markets nearly 2,000 kilometres away in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.
For most of his life, Dar grew cherries and then waited anxiously for them to leave Kashmir.
“Earlier, transport was always uncertain,” he told Mint. “If roads closed because of rains or landslides, the fruit spoiled very quickly. This time growers are hopeful because the train can take the produce faster.”
Rail shift
That hope is tied to one of the biggest changes in Kashmir’s horticulture economy in recent years. This summer, Indian Railways registered 28 dedicated parcel vans for Kashmiri cherries, moving consignments from Jammu and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Mumbai’s Bandra Terminus in around 30 to 33 hours.
A journey that once took three or four days by road can now be completed in nearly a day and a half. For a fruit that begins deteriorating within two days of picking, those hours matter immensely.
Kashmir grows nearly 95% of India’s cherries. Official horticulture figures put annual production at around 14,000 metric tonnes across roughly 2,800 hectares, with 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes shipped outside the Valley each year. The industry’s turnover stands between ₹130 crore and ₹150 crore annually, with Shopian, Srinagar and Ganderbal among the major producing districts.
Cash crop
Cherries occupy a unique place within Kashmir’s horticulture economy. Apples remain the main business, capable of earning growers ₹10-15 lakh annually. Cherries are a smaller but quicker source of income, harvested months before apples and arriving precisely when families need cash for pesticides, fertilizers and labour.
“Apples may bring yearly income, but cherries provide immediate cash flow as they ripen four months before apples do,” said Sayar Ahmad, 34, a fruit grower from Shopian, the Valley’s fruit bowl. “Growers need money during this period for pesticides, fertilisers and labour. Cherry becomes extremely important.”
In Kashmir’s farming villages, the crop often determines whether families can confidently invest in the upcoming apple season.
The fruit has also emerged as a fallback as Kashmir’s apple economy faces increasing pressure. Climate change and imported Iranian apples have intensified competition in Indian markets in recent years, squeezing margins for local growers and making diversification necessary.
“Cherry gives growers some relief when apples face market problems,” said Dar.
Fragile journey
Besides domestic markets, Kashmiri cherries are increasingly finding buyers abroad, especially in Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where premium varieties attract strong demand.
Yet producing cherries was never the Valley’s main challenge. Moving them out before they spoiled was.
For decades, growers depended on two risky options. They either loaded fruit onto trucks travelling through the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway or sent consignments through expensive air cargo services.
Neither option guaranteed reliability. NH44, Kashmir’s only major road link with the rest of India, is vulnerable to landslides, shooting stones and weather-related closures. A blocked highway could trap fruit-laden trucks for hours or days, by which time cherries often softened or bruised.
“In cherry trading, freshness decides the price,” said Mohammad Ashraf Wani, a fruit grower and trader from Shopian district.
Air cargo reduced travel time but sharply increased costs. According to growers, shipping cherries by air to Mumbai cost nearly ₹75 per kilogram, and even more to southern cities such as Chennai.
“By train the freight cost becomes much lower, which is a huge advantage for growers,” Wani, who is also president of Fruit Mandi Shopian, told Mint. “This has become a shot in the arm for the cherry industry.”
The shift to rail transport did not happen overnight. Last year, railway authorities conducted a limited trial, transporting nearly 14 parcel vans of cherries from Katra to Mumbai. The fruit arrived in good condition, encouraging traders who had long doubted whether rail transport could handle delicate produce.
Basheer Ahmad Basheer, president of the Kashmir Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, said one successful trial achieved what years of lobbying could not.
"Initially only a small quantity was sent," he told Mint. “But it reached successfully and growers gained confidence. This year much larger quantities will move through trains.”
This season, railway authorities have booked 28 parcel vans, including seven loading from Jammu and 21 from Katra. Each van can carry nearly 23 tonnes of fruit. The service is expected to run throughout the cherry season from late May until early July.
“Our aim is to provide fast, reliable transportation for highly perishable produce,” said Raghvender Singh, public relations inspector with the Jammu railway division.
Next step
Basheer said two railway bogies have also been booked this year from Srinagar to Jammu to move cherries directly from the Valley. Around 25 tonnes of cherries are expected to reach Jammu daily through that service once harvesting begins in full swing after Eid.
Dar has spent years preparing for this shift. He replaced older cherry trees with newer varieties that yield more fruit and retain quality longer after picking.
“During the last five years, Kashmir has witnessed bumper cherry production because of new varieties,” he said. “Both the quality and quantity are much better now.”
Rail has also changed the economics of abundance. Earlier, bumper harvests often flooded local markets faster than traders could move fruit out of Kashmir, sharply pushing prices down.
Still, growers are clear about what rail services cannot yet solve. Cherries must still travel by road from orchards to Jammu or Katra before being loaded onto trains, adding hours and repeated handling for a fruit with an exceptionally short shelf life.
“We expect more refinements and advancement in future,” Wani said. “Direct shipping from Srinagar would help growers even more.”
The Srinagar-Jammu Vande Bharat passenger service carries no freight coaches, and dedicated parcel rail from Srinagar has not yet arrived.
Growers say direct parcel rail connectivity from Srinagar remains the next major requirement if the industry is to fully benefit from railway infrastructure.
Lean harvest
This year’s harvest has also arrived under difficult climatic conditions. An unusually warm February disrupted the chilling conditions cherries require through winter, while erratic March rainfall affected flowering. Yields are lower across orchards in Ganderbal and Shopian.
“Production is less compared to previous years," Ahmad said. "But because supply is lower, growers are expecting good market rates. The premium variety of cherry is expected to fetch around ₹200 per kilogram in wholesale markets.”
On a smaller crop, transportation efficiency becomes even more important. A spoiled box hurts far more when harvest volumes are already low.
According to Ghulam Jeelani Zargar, director of Horticulture, Planning and Marketing, J&K, the rail service has changed something beyond transportation costs.
“Train has given a new lease of life to cherries,” he told Mint. “We always supply cherry produce from Kashmir in trucks to outside fruit markets. Now, the new rail service is facilitating supply which will help the industry to grow further.”
Waiting season
In a region where nearly 70% of the population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture and allied sectors, even modest improvements in logistics can ripple across the wider economy. Lower freight costs affect household savings, farming investments and labour demand. Reliable transport also encourages growers to plant more trees and take bigger risks.
Across the outskirts of Srinagar and the villages of Ganderbal and Shopian, crates are being counted and labourers arranged for the weeks ahead. Growers are watching the weather carefully, waiting for the fruit to fully ripen.
For now, the success of the season may depend on something simple: whether the trains continue running on time, and whether cherries arriving in Delhi, Mumbai and beyond still carry the freshness of Kashmir’s orchards.