THE VALLEY OF HOPE AND FEAR
“ For us, everything is an unknown. We need clarity ”
When Kashmiris want to curse someone, they say “Pae Traeth” (May lightning strike you). Sanna Masood, a 38-year-old Srinagar-based entrepreneur, jokes that the heavens are upset with her, for whatever she set out to do in the past decade has taken a hit. In 2014, her home was washed away in the mighty floods that hit Srinagar and she had to wear clothes donated by someone from Chennai. Her voice chokes as she recalls how she had always given to others and how she swallowed her pride to receive help, but she is grateful for it. The floods engulfed her first major farm venture too, leaving her in serious debt.
Disaster struck her next venture as well when she teamed up with the Srinagar investor Khuram Mir, to set up two high-density apple orchards. But just as things were taking off, violence broke out over the killing of Burhan Wani in July 2016. Since one of the farms was located in a village in Anantnag, where the Hizbul commander was killed, a mob stormed it, burning down 7,000 trees. Demoralised but determined to stay the course, Sanna, together with Mir, rebuilt the business from the ashes and, today, with over 2,000 farmers engaged with Root2Fruit, a vertical of HN Agriserve, the group has become one of the largest farming contractors for high-density orchards. While she continues to oversee the venture, Sanna now serves as the CEO of Farm2U, a unit of the group, which has the largest network of cold storages in Kashmir with a capacity of 25,000 tonnes.
The company’s aim is to make Kashmir, among the six largest apple producers in the world, the biggest exporter of the fruit while meeting the enormous domestic demand. After tourism, the apple orchards have become the backbone of Kashmir’s economy. It produces over 2 million tonnes of apples worth around Rs 9,000 crore annually, and accounts for 80 per cent of India’s total production. Sanna is confident that with the high-density orchards growing rapidly and given the fact that they produce five times more than traditional trees, apple production in Kashmir will grow to over 6 million tonnes in a decade. Currently, India imports around 0.3 million tonnes of apples worth $300 million (Rs 2,200 crore), mainly from the US and China, and exports barely around 20,000 tonnes valued at Rs 75 crore. With India’s annual per capita apple consumption estimated to be only 2 kg compared to the world average of 9 kg, there is enormous potential for growth. “With better quality and production of apples,” says Sanna, “India can not only meet its vast domestic demand but also become a major exporter.”
Sanna admits the political turmoil of the past few years and the Covid lock-downs have played spoilers. Having obtained a biotechnology degree from Jamia Millia University in Delhi as well as an MBA, Sanna is deeply concerned at the discrimination her Kashmiri Muslim employees face in Delhi when they are refused room bookings. “Don’t we belong to this country?” she asks. “Even I have to at times say I belong to Delhi, not Kashmir to get a hotel room.” The uncertain situation in the Valley, she says, has generated a deep sense of fear and insecurity. Her father is a well-known painter but
