Fruit prices soar as insurgency prevents supply from Swat

[LahoreEstate]

Sunday, June 07, 2009
By Qaiser Khan Afridi

Prices of fruits in the local market have increased manifolds after the suspension of supply from the Swat valley, due to the ongoing military operation in Malakand division.

The business community estimated the loss to the district’s fruit-based economy to be in billions, saying due to destruction of bridges, blockade of roads, attacks, shelling and curfews, shifting fruit out of the district has come to a halt.

The arrival of fruits from war-hit Swat and its adjacent areas has totally been suspended, resulting in massive price hikes of the same items arriving from other areas.

Wholesalers of fruits say that the military operation has destroyed fruit orchards. Besides, almost the entire population of these areas has left their homes leaving the standing crop unattended.

Not only have the growers suffered heavily by losing their source of livelihood, wholesalers in Sabzi Mandi, who used to invest in the production of various fruits every year, have lost millions of rupees.

Apart from that dealers and labourers have also been affected as they too earn their livelihood from these orchards.

Fruits like peaches have already matured and are ready for marketing, while apricots and plums would be ready in a couple of days.

However, the ongoing operation and militant attacks have badly affected transportation, packaging and the marketing of fruits, causing losses of millions to the district’s economy.

Found nowhere else in Pakistan and famous for its taste and large size, the peach of Swat is commonly known as No 6. Its supplies earn millions of rupees for the district.

The areas of Swat valley including Char Bagh, Matta and Guli Bagh are famous for their peach yield, where thousands of orchards are located.

“Suspension of peach from Swat due to the military operation compelled me to sell the peaches produced in Urmar orchards located in Peshawar,” Shams Rahman, a local trader told The News on Saturday.

Currently, he said one carton of peach from Urmar Orchards is available in the local market for Rs300, while one carton of Swat’s best quality peach was being sold at Rs180.

Another retailer said that he used to sell plums at Rs100 per kg before the military operation, but now it costs Rs150-200 per kg.

A dealer in Sabzi Mandi, Malak Sohni said “supply of fruits and vegetables has been suspended and the wholesale market does not have any stocks from Swat,” adding that huge quantities of matured fruits have also fallen from the trees but nobody is there to pick them up. The season of peach, plum and apricot starts from end of May and concludes by end of August.

He said in case the insurgence continues, chances for the arrival of persimmon, which starts hitting the market from July and ends in October, are slim. Pear starts from August every year and currently it is in flower stage.

There are reports of heavy crop devastation of persimmon and pear in Swat area due to shortage of urea, water and fertiliser.

He said many a fruit dealers who had invested in buying orchards were crying over losses, while hundreds of families have been deprived of their only source of income.

According to a study jointly conducted by Punjab Lok Sujag and South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAPP), around 226,000 farming families of the area are economically paralyzed due to the ongoing operation. Around 1.9 million members of farming families rely fully or partly on agriculture for their livelihood. The conflict zone is the fruit and vegetable basket of the country.

qaiser@journalist.com

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=181624