PESHAWAR: with the start of cold season dry fruit markets get abuzz with costumers but the once booming trend is now fast dwindling due to exorbitant prices.

The cold weather across the country raises the rate of dry fruits manifold and poor people at the most remain unable to enjoy it and some of them have become a far-fetched thing but peanuts still attract large number of people.

Like previous years, this winter too witnessed sky rocking prices of dry fruits in Peshawar but peanuts still hit dry fruit stalls because of its low rate. There are several dry fruit markets and stores in Peshawar but buyers seem to be a few, however, buyers flock to the peanuts stalls.

Saamal Khan, a dry fruit merchant in Namak Mandi, told this scribe that traders invested no big amount in the dry fruits due to deep slump in its market and also buyers of dry fruits got decreased despite cold weather.

He said that only few items had an encouraging sale including peanuts but most dry fruit store keepers did not showcase it as it did not fetch enough earning while occupied much space.

Grown in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, peanuts have a good market and especially cold weather is ideal for consumption of such low priced dry fruit. Chota Lahor is a market, which supplies peanuts to other cities including provincial metropolis. Even low income people show up at peanuts stalls in and around Peshawar for it.

Rahimdad, another dealer of dry fruits, told this scribe that most traders imported dry fruits including almonds, pistachios walnuts, and dried figs from Afghanistan, Iran and central Asian countries. He added that high levies on imported dry fruits increased their prices, making those items unaffordable for local consumers.

“Peanuts are the only good option with poor consumers as almonds and many other dry fruits even if purchased from Azad Kashmir and northern areas have unaffordable rates and most are beyond the reach of common people. Peanuts brought from Chota Lahor in Swabi district with a good taste attract customers in droves,” said Mr Dad.

Zareen Jan, another trader, said that every year the cold season brought high prices pushing the dealers towards inability to provide different dry fruits in the markets. He said that after imposing regularity duty on various items including perishable and dry fruits being imported from Afghanistan, dry fruits markets had gone up really dry.

Matwali Bacha, a costumer, said that most people could not even buy fresh vegetables. “How they would enjoy dry fruits,” he questioned.

He said that earlier he used to buy dry fruits like almonds and pistachios but that winter his pocket did not allow him. “I think peanuts are a better option,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2020