Srinagar, Sept. 30 -- Kashmir's apple season was our economic heartbeat. But the recent events have inflicted a lethal blow to the industry which hab been hit not by a bad harvest or ugly weather but by a chain of logistical failures that demand urgent and comprehensive economic intervention. The prolonged closures of the Srinagar-Jammu highway during the peak of this year's harvest halted movement at the very moment apples needed to reach markets, leaving truckloads stranded, crates rotting and growers ruined. The highway reopened only in mid-September after alternating traffic arrangements were restored, but that relief came too late for many. The outcome has been painful. Farmers are reporting wholesale rates collapsing to roughly half...