J&K flood impact: Your dry fruit diet just got costlier this season

If your dry fruit diet consists of walnuts, you will have to earmark a significantly higher amount from your household budget to buy the nut this season.

According to a report in The Times of India, the prices of the cholesterol-killer have gone up a whopping 50 percent because of the floods in Jammu & Kashmir, the largest producer.

At the Vashi APMC, the nut is being quoted at Rs 1500 per kg now, up from just Rs 750 a month ago, the report says.

A trader from Kupwara has told the paper that floods have destroyed crops in Anantnag, Sophian and Pahalgam, which are the top producing areas in the state.

According to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), apart from J&K, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh also produce walnut but in smaller quantities.

In 2013-14, India exported 6,726.36 million tonne worth Rs 324.53 crore mainly to Vietnam, Egypt Arab Republic, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain, the US and Germany.

Another commodity that has turned pricier because of the floods is saffron, which has witnessed a 15 percent surge, says the report. The prices now stand at Rs 1,24,000 a kg, up from Rs 1,05,000.