Impact of covid-19 on the supply chain of apple crop in Jammu and Kashmir, India

This paper aims to highlight the disruption caused by COVID-19in the supply chain of apple in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on pre-harvesting, harvesting and post-harvesting stages of apple-crop. Primary Data was collected through the telephonic survey. Farmers acknowledged delay in spraying the chemicals and fertilizers, that resulted in increase of pests and weeds. Another group of respondents who had stored last year’s produce in Controlled-Atmosphere-Storages (CAS) failed to find any buyer due to closure of the markets and the consequent fall in demand. The transportation and the storage cost of their stored produce is increasing with each passing day, therefore gradually eroding their profitability. Longevity of COVID19 and the subsequent lockdown will likely impact the harvesting phase of the current apple. Only 3.5 % of the total production of apple can be stored in CAS, thus raising serious concerns regarding the marketing during the pandemic.