PESHAWAR: Fruit fly has adversely affected the pine nuts in South Waziristan tribal district this year, The News Today has learnt.
Janbaz Khan, a farmer, said that most of the pine nut trees in his orchard in Khamrang area had gone dry due to the attack of fruit fly, thus seriously affecting the production of pine nuts this season.
It merits a mention here that thousands of families in South Waziristan are linked to the business of growing and selling pine nuts.
It produces 85% to 90% of pine nuts that are supplied in the country while as per estimates, 5000 tons pine nuts are annually exported to various countries including China, Turkey and Arab countries.
Rashid Khan, research officer of Agriculture Department, told this scribe that the fruit fly had previously affected plumes, apricots, and apples but this is the first time that pine nuts are affected in Waziristan region.
“We need a research centre in the region to control such diseases to agricultural products. Research experts are under-training currently and hopefully, a setup would be developed in coming months,” he added.
Forest Officer Mumtaz Khan said he had visited various areas of South Waziristan headquarter Wana, collected the samples and sent them to Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI) in Peshawar for further research. “This year, the possible factor behind fruit fly attack on pine nuts seems to be the lack of snowfall,” he added.
Mumtaz said the local farmers sprinkled Mobil oil on the base of the pine nut plants as a traditional method, but research was underway to find a solution to the disease.
“A plant can go dry within 15 days after it is attacked by this fly,” he added.
People related to agriculture, particularly those growing pine nuts, have demanded the government to set up a research centre in the tribal district to tackle the issue.
Currently the pine nuts are sold at the rate of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per kilogram and due to the damage, the rate can go high further in the days to come.
A survey conducted by the Forest Department authorities in the year 2017 had concluded that South Waziristan alone produced pine nuts worth Rs17 billion. By Roshan Khan Wazir
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