How this Kashmir village manually fixes apples on trees to lure tourists

 Srinagar:  Forget Gulmarg or Pahalgam, tourists are making a beeline to  `Apple village of Kashmir’.

 Such is the rush of tourists that the villagers of Hugam in the Bijbehara area have fixed apples on trees to create an orchard feel in the offseason.

 “This village is known for apples. Tourists love to visit here and click pictures in our orchards,” Mohammad Asif,  an orchardist, said.

 Asif is one of the orchardists who had kept apples in a cold chain facility till now.

 “We actually don’t want our tourists to miss the opportunity of witnessing apples on trees. Many tourists who visited our area expressed their desire to see apples on trees, so we came up with this idea of fixing apples on the twigs and branches,” he said.

 Asif is selling apple pie, apple juices, and dried apple chips to tourists. “The entire village is associated with the apple business. Since this village falls en route to Pahalgam, we sell apples, juices, pies, and other delicacies to tourists,” he said.

 Another interesting fact about the villagers is that they don’t pluck apples during harvesting season.

 “Last time, the video of our apple garden became viral on social media. Those orchards which are near the highway have apples till February. We don’t pluck apples from these trees during harvesting season for tourism purposes,” Asif said.

 Muneer Ahmad, another orchardist, said a large number of people have decorated their orchards to promote apple tourism.

 “You will witness that our orchards are well maintained and decorated by the villagers. We want to give our tourists the same feelings which they experience in some European country where apple tourism is at its pinnacle,” he said.

 Pertinently, the government is also focusing to promote horticulture tourism.

 Recently, the government held many festivals during the Spring season. These include almond, apricot, and cherry festival to promote horticulture tourism.