This is the season of walnut harvesting. Men from southern Kashmir hamlets are hired to climb up walnut trees and shake the walnuts down with a wooden stick or post in hand. While many of these men are veterans of the trade, some semi-trained ones also chip in, making them prone to fatal falls from walnut trees. Kashmir witnesses hundreds of deaths every year due to fall from walnut trees.
The unorganised nature of the walnut business in Kashmir coupled with primitive methods of harvesting followed by locals, are the main contributors for the high rates of injury and death associated with harvesting walnuts.
While there are modern methods of harvesting in which the nuts are removed from the tree using a mechanical shaker, a machine that grasps the trunk and shakes the whole tree. The nuts drop to the ground, are then swept into windrows and picked up with harvest machinery. This operation is completed quickly to reduce the time nuts remain on the ground.
Even though some walnut alcove owners provide these ill-fated men with huge nets at base trunks, a majority of these nets fail to protect the ‘fallen men’. Doctors suggest that a net can be replaced by a thick mattress. Ladders which are used during fire-fighting can be used to assist in climbing. Also, a rope can be tied around the waist of the climber and levered around a thick branch of tree and the other end of the rope can be held by persons on the ground so that if the climber slips, he is at least held in the air. Besides, a centre where walnut climbers could be trained to climb safely is the need of the hour.
The government must create a database of men who are associated with this seasonal job of walnut harvesting and create a tie up with nearby Fire Services wing to give them proper training and make ladders available on a first come first serve basis. These men often leave behind families with no earning hand. The government must provide health and life insurance to these men. The government must also promote and incentivise procurement of mechanical shakers for safe harvesting of walnuts.
Walnut production is a great contributor to the GDP of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and a disruptive innovation initiated here can go a long way in further improving the economical condition of the valley in particular and the whole union territory in general.
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