Land, work, and culture have always been important to Kashmir’s economy. There are apple orchards, saffron fields, and handicrafts that have been passed down through generations in the Valley. These are just a few of the things that people in India and around the world really value that the area makes. Even though these things are good for the environment and the people who live there, most of the money they make doesn’t stay in the area. Instead, it spreads out through trade channels that are mostly controlled by outside middlemen, processing hubs, and branding networks that are not in the Valley. Building up local storage, processing, branding, and distribution capacity for internal trade is a structural solution to this problem and can help the economy grow in the long term.

Apple is the most important horticultural crop in Jammu and Kashmir, which produces about 70–75% of India’s apples. Apple farming helps hundreds of thousands of families directly and indirectly by providing work, transportation, and packaging. But there is a big problem with the way things are traded right now: a lot of apples are sent to wholesale markets outside the region as raw produce. Grading, polishing, branding, and retail marketing are all things that add a lot of value that happen somewhere else. Because of this, farmers often only get a small part of the final market price.

One of the biggest problems is that there isn’t enough storage space. Farmers have to sell during the busiest times of the year because there aren’t enough controlled atmosphere (CA) storage facilities. Farmers would be able to stagger sales, take advantage of better price windows, and avoid losses after harvest if local cold chains were bigger. Also, putting money into local food processing plants for apple juice, cider, vinegar, preserves, and dried apples could bring in more money. Kashmir’s apple economy could change from volume-to-value growth by moving up the value chain.

Saffron is another high-value product with untapped potential, in addition to apples. Pampore’s saffron fields are well-known for making some of the best........

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