Srinagar, May 27 -- Cherries have started to arrive in Kashmir markets with the pace set to pick up as the harvesting gathers momentum across the Valley. According to officials and experts, there will be a bumper harvest this season due to the favorable weather conditions this spring. This comes on the back of consecutive seasons of great harvests. "This year, the weather was favourable and the harvest is good. We hope rates will also remain good for growers," said Ahmad Shah, a grower from Ganderbal, which is famous for cherry production. In the coming days, cherries from all parts of south, north and central Kashmir will be harvested, and most of them will be exported to other states. Though the highly perishable crop has a good customer case in Kashmir, most of the produce is exported to metropolitan cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. According to estimates by the horticulture department, cherry is being cultivated on around 2,800 hectares. Considered the season's first cash crop, it yields an annual turnover of Rs.130 crore to Rs.150 crore. Of late, new varieties like Italy, hybrid mishri and double have been attracting good prices in markets. Growers say they are getting good prices for their produce, and it is likely to get better as the season progresses. "Earlier, we used to sell cherries in big wooden boxes. Now, it's being sold in boxes of 500gm and 1kg. Good varieties of cherries fetch around Rs.100 to Rs.200 per box, depending on the size. I have already harvested 1000 boxes and sold them in the local mandi. The rates are good and in the next couple of weeks, the market will see improvement," said Mohudin Mir, a grower at Nowpora Jageer village in north Kashmir. As of now, fruit mandis Sopore and Srinagar are leading the charts in arrivals and boxes are being dispatched to various parts of the country. In the first week of June, a major consignment of cherries will be dispatched to Mumbai via a special train, the details for which have been finalised by growers with the Railways authorities. Though cherries are grown ubiquitously across the Valley, the major produce comes from central and north Kashmir. The union territory's annual production is around 12,000 to 14000 metric tonnes, depending upon the weather conditions in winter and spring. Horticulture department officials said production was 11,289MT in 2017 and 11,789MT in 2018. In each of 2019, 2020 and 2023, the harvest crosses 12,000 MT. Srinagar fruit mandi president Hajy Bashir said good quality cherries have started arriving in the market. "In the coming days, as the harvest begins in north and south Kashmir, thousands of boxes of the fruit will reach markets every day."...