Fruits, the orchard-rich Swat valley provides some of the best peaches to the country’s fruit markets from late May to September. Besides tourism, horticulture is another sector which plays key role in the economy of Swat. Swat valley is one of the major peach producing areas in the country.
According agriculture extension department, having over 13,000 hectares land for cultivation of different fruits, Swat produced up to 100,000 tonnes of fruits in 2014. Of the total production, 23,940 tonnes were peaches.
“Peaches of Swat have high demand in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other fruit markets. The peaches of my orchard are easily sold at over Rs.800 per box,” Business of peaches was beneficial but it needed hard labor for good production. “It needs good fertilizers, pesticides and other medicines which are very expensive.
Usually about 12 persons work at a small orchard. Some of them pick the fruits from trees, some grade and pack them and others transport them to the market.
A large number of local transporters also earn reasonable income during the fruits production period. About 200 trucks transport peaches to different fruit markets of the country daily. “Not only, peaches of Swat are lovely, the weather of the valley is also very pleasant.
The peach orchards are also a source of earning livelihood for the poor communities, who work in the orchards as pickers, packers, porters and loaders. Over 10, 000 families are associated with the peach orchards in Swat.
People earned Rs.500 daily for picking fruits at the orchards. “Those who pack peaches in the cartons get Rs.700 daily,” Due to suitable climate, fertile soil and plenty of water in Swat, the quality of local peaches was better from that of others in the country.
Dry Fruits
The prices of different dry fruits have registered increase this year at swat Pakistan. The cashew nuts were selling at Rs.1,100 per kilo-gramme as against the price of Rs.800 a kilo-gramme last year. Price of pistachios was Rs.900 per kilo-gramme last year, but this winter the per kilo-gramme price has touched Rs.1,400. Similarly, almond prices have jumped up from Rs.360 per kilo-gramme last year to Rs.550 per kilogram this year. The prices of walnut, peanuts, pine nuts etc have also gone up during the current year.
The increasing prices of dry fruits had affected business. Due to high prices people preferred to buy walnuts and peanuts, which were easily available in markets at lower rates than other dry fruits. There was a little increase in the prices of walnut and that too due to its export to other countries.
Once buy pine nuts, pistachios and cashews, but could no longer afford due to their high prices. Buying peanuts and walnuts for family, everyone in the area liked eating dry fruits in cold weather.
“Walnuts are locally produced in Swat, but even then their prices increase almost every year,” everyone fearing that people of lower middle class would soon be unable to afford buying dry fruits if the price spiral continued.
0 Comments