Homegrown Watermelons – Meet Dost Muhammad, a Farmer from South Kashmir

Fruit growers in the Kashmir valley are now trying their hand in crops that aren’t native to this place. For instance, watermelon and musk melons which mostly grow in hot and humid places like Gujarat, Bangalore and Maharashtra, etc is successfully being grown in the valley now which is relatively colder than the plains of India. The Kashmir valley’s horticulture and agriculture sectors are the main sources of economy for the UT of J&K with crops like apple, walnuts, cherries, etc being famous for their quality and taste fetching around 1000 crore rupees revenue to the UT annually and growing. The agriculture department, since the last few years, has taken an initiative in collaboration with the local farm owners to introduce and grow genetically modified seeds of several varieties of melons, an experiment which has largely proved successful. The production of melons in the valley can keep this fruit variety available in the valley even after the season is over in the rest of India as the ripening and reaping season differs from the mainlands of India.