Valley’s largest fruit mandi joins chorus to seek Rs 2,000 crore revival package for horticulture

Sopore, Nov 20: Being the Valley’s largest fruit mandi, the growers and dealers at Sopore Fruit Mandi have suffered Rs 1,000 crore losses this year till now, owing to extreme weather conditions and haltage of trucks on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, especially during the August period.

Fayaz Ahmad Malik, President of the Fruit Growers and Dealers Association, Sopore said even today 250 to 300 trucks were moving out of the Sopore Mandi on a daily basis for outside mandis. “The mandi has achieved a turnover between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore so far this year, and the figure is expected to rise further as the trading season continues. The Sopore Mandi has been the backbone of our rural economy for decades,” Malik said, emphasising that thousands of households depend on the fruit busine