The Kashmir Valley produces roughly half of India's apple crop, and the orchards that cover the valley floor south of Srinagar and in the hills toward Shopian make September and October particularly picturesque. The trees — most of them classic varieties like Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Maharaji — heavy with fruit and the chinar trees turning golden simultaneously, create the landscape most closely associated with Kashmir in autumn.
The orchards are not tourist sites as such — they are working farmland — but driving through the valley in harvest season (September to November depending on variety) gives a strong sense of Kashmir's agricultural identity and explains why the valley matters economically to the region. The wholesale apple market at Sopore in the north of the valley is the largest fruit market in Asia outside China. For travellers, stopping at roadside stalls between Srinagar and Shopian or Anantnag in autumn to buy apples direct from growers is both cheap and good — the fruit is often far superior to what appears in city markets after transport and storage.