Marium Bibi, 50, has roots in the village of Bandi, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Neelum Valley. This is where she was born, raised and got married. Now, a widow, she looks after her family of five. Cattle-keeping is the main source of livelihood for her. But, she also relies on seasonal farming. Since her childhood, she has been involved in walnut farming, like half the women in her community.

In her garden grow four walnut trees which yield the hard-shelled nut which she sells in the fall of every year. “For me, selling walnuts has remained a seasonal livelihood support, like other women in the area,” Marium says.

Bandi is one of the major walnut producing villages in the Neelum district, along with Leepa in Jhelum in Muzaffarabad Division. For generations, the superfood walnut has supported the local economy of these areas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Every landowner, like Marium, grows walnut trees on their land and is engaged in walnut farming. The reason is simple. Local farmers say, once a walnut tree starts giving fruit, it requires no hard work at all. It is low maintenance and the trees require no special care.

A walnut tree begins to fruit after 10 years of planting and one tree can yield anywhere from 60 kgs to 80 kgs of nuts. Moreover, walnut plantation does not require any specific prerequisites, as other vegetation practices can be carried on simultaneously in the same farming area.

Growing organic walnuts at home has been an easy seasonal income for villagers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, especially its women. But climate change and lack of government attention are turning opportunity into a challenge

Mostly women are involved in walnut farming. Some pick the fruit from the trees themselves, dry them in their homes and sell them in the market, or they shell the nuts to be sold. Local contractors buy the nuts from the villagers or they outsource the fruit-picking as well. When the women are done with a hard day’s work, they gather in one of their homes for a chat, meanwhile shelling walnuts or sorting them to pass their evenings.

“Since I have to feed my family of five, I have to work hard during the off-season of walnuts to cover my losses. However, my seasonal earnings have also reduced from 50,000 rupees to 20,000 rupees in the last five years or so,” says Marium.

There is a general downturn in the walnut business.

The unusual phenomenon of rains over the last decade or so in Neelum and Jhelum during the fruit harvesting months of September and October has led to the quality of walnuts deteriorating. Dry fruit rates have dropped to a quarter of their price over the last 10 years, diminishing the source of earning for the farming population comprising some 30,000 families.

“With every passing year, the monsoon and post-monsoon rainfall is rising in the region, especially in the walnut districts of Neelum and Jhelum,” Khawaja Masood Iqbal, director at the Agriculture Research Department, Azad Kashmir, tells Eos. This is negatively affecting fruit productivity.

In AJK, harvesting of walnuts starts in the month of August and continues till the end of October. In the past, the dry weather during this period favoured the ripening of the walnuts, turning the walnut kernels white. In contrast, the recent heavy rainfalls during harvesting season raised humidity and that makes the kernels a substandard brown.

According to experts, another factor connected with changing weather is insect infestation and the spread of diseases on tree stems and kernels.

“We didn’t have insect infestation in walnut crops in the past,” says Zafar Jahangir, a Muzaffarabad-based agriculture scientist, “but they have become very common as they are getting a favourable environment due to changing climatic conditions. Stemborer [insects] destroy walnut tree stems while walnut weevil damages the fruit,” Jahangir tells Eos.

Damage to the crop is, of course, damage to the pocket. Profits are nosediving for farmers who are finding it a challenge to ensure kernel quality. For instance, the rate of the superior white kernels in the market is around 1,800 rupees per kg as compared to the brown- and grey-kernelled walnuts, priced at 700 rupees for the same weight.

Kashmir-produced walnuts are traded to other parts of Pakistan, mainly through Rawalpindi. “Our walnuts were exported to other countries not long ago,” Khalid Shah, a trader from Neelum, tells Eos. “However, due to the deteriorating quality of crops that are producing brown kernels, we are importing walnuts from China [for the last 8 to 10 years].”  For Kashmiri traders, the arrival of Chinese walnuts in the Pakistani market has added to their problems.

According to Shah, there was strong competition for the organic Kashmiri walnuts in the market with the arrival of Chinese walnuts. The walnuts coming from China have soft shells and white kernels but locally grown walnuts are organic and are better in taste. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered by the Chinese nuts in volume.

Given these impediments in selling Kashmiri nuts, local landlords are losing interest in walnut cultivation, and that will severely hit local businesses, says Shah.

Raja Shafiq, another grower from Jhelum’s Leepa area, demands of the government to seriously look into the decline of walnut farming. “Our trees are getting sick now,” he says, “they are drying up. The government should help us get rid of the walnut tree diseases. It can play an important role in pest control, which will curb the loss to our business.”

Shafiq says, “The government’s help is our last hope. It can save the existing trees as well as enhance walnut cultivation in the Kashmir region, as it is a very low-investment plantation.”

The writer is a freelance environmental journalist based in Muzaffarabad. He tweets @sajidmir44

Published in Dawn, EOS, February 6th, 2022