Constraints in production and marketing of apple in Chenab Valley of Jammu province

An attempt has been made in this study to identify the constraints faced by the growers in production and marketing of apple fruit which stall its growth in the study area. The present study was carried out in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state with special emphasis on selected districts viz., Doda, Kishtwar and Rambam, as these regions had the highest area and production under apple crop. The primary data from 180 respondents has been collected by survey method by interviewing the apple growers as well as different market functionaries directly through an especially prepared and pre-tested schedule. The Identified constraints of the growers in the production and marketing of apple had been ranked by making use of the Garrett's Ranking Technique. The analysis of the study revealed large number of constraints in the production and marketing of the commercial varieties of apple in a selected area, out of which occurrence of apple disease, high labour cost, lack of latest technical knowledge, high cost of transportation, lack of transportation facilities and costly packing material have been identified as the major problems. In order to solve the marketing problems of the study area apple producers should be organized as federation, cooperatives and union. The study calls for all government and non-governmental organizations to work together to expand and improve apple production and establish apple marketing hub for tackling the bottlenecks in the expansion of apple crop in the study area.