Srinagar, Oct. 4 -- A few days ago, while travelling to Ashmuqam in South Kashmir, I came across a sight that still troubles me.

Truck after truck stood by the Lidder River, unloading apples straight into the water. The river carried them away, bobbing helplessly downstream.

For a moment, I felt disbelief. Then came a wave of sadness.

These apples could have fed families, created jobs, built enterprises. Instead, they were being discarded.

What I saw that morning was a mirror of our broken priorities.

Apple orchards are the lungs of our economy. Nearly half of Kashmiri population depends on apple cultivation, directly or indirectly.

With more than 20 million metric tonnes of production every year, nearly three quarters of India...