Why are Chilgoza, which used to be sold at a high price in the past, so cheap in Pakistan this year?

   Why are Chilgoza, which used to be sold at a high price in the past, so cheap in Pakistan this year?

 ‘This is not an easy task. Picking the cones of the pine nuts from the high trees in the mountains, extracting the pine nuts from them and cooking them are difficult stages. This year, six of our people were injured or lost their lives in these forests at different times.’

Traders from Sherani district, located near the city of Zhob in Balochistan, told journalist Rafiullah Mandokhel that their production was not good this year and the size of the pine nuts remained small.

Khyal Gul, who does business in the mountains of Koh Sulaiman, said that all his capital is in these mountains and he has been doing this work for about 28 years.

 

He said that this is such a difficult task that six people from the area were injured or lost their lives at different times while harvesting the pine nuts this year.

He said that not only this, but they are not even getting proper compensation for these pine nuts.

‘Last year was good and some compensation was received, but this year, when the season started, the price of pine nuts was very low.’

This year, Pakistan has reported a record production of pine nuts, but people involved in this work say that in some places, due to lack of rain, less fruit was obtained, while in others, the size of the pine nuts was small.

But there are some areas in Pakistan where pine nuts production was good and the size of the fruit is also large, but traders there are facing problems in accessing the global market.

Size and production of pine nuts

Officers associated with the research department of the Forest Department say that natural pine nut forests are found in different parts of Pakistan, such as the densest forests in the Shawal area of ​​North Waziristan, and similarly in the Solomon Mountains connected to South Waziristan and Balochistan, and in the border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa such as Sherani, Zhob and Darazand.

In addition, there are pine nut forests in some areas of Chitral, Kohistan and Dir districts, while there are dense pine nut forests in Diamer in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Hasnain Raza, director of the research department of the Forest Department, told the BBC that last year, more than 2,100 metric tons of pine nuts were produced from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which the highest was reported from North and South Waziristan, which was about 2,000 metric tons.

He said that according to the reports so far, the production this year is being said to be five times higher than the previous year.

He said that last year, Pakistan earned more than seven billion rupees from walnuts.

It is worth mentioning here that in recent years, due to the global demand for walnuts, their prices had skyrocketed and last year, walnuts were being sold in Pakistan at the rate of seven to eight thousand rupees per kilogram.

He said that when walnuts came to the market in October, their price was between Rs. 2,200 and Rs. 2,500 in Wana Bazaar, but now as the cold weather is increasing, their price is increasing and the price of walnuts in Wana's wholesale market is up to Rs. 2,700, while when walnuts are cooked in an oven, their weight decreases and their price increases.

Sahib Khan said that China is the biggest market for Pakistan and Afghanistan globally, where walnuts are imported from both countries and the price of walnuts in China is based on size.

"For example, if there are 2200 to 2300 walnuts in a kilo, then its price is good, and if there are 3300 or 3500 walnuts in a kilo, then its price is also low." Qutub Din, a trader from Sherani district, said that the problem for us is that if walnuts are not kept in cold storage, their weight keeps decreasing, and we do not have cold storage, so we send them to cold storage in Lahore. According to him, last year, walnuts were taken from the cold storage in Lahore by people from the related organization, due to which the traders had to suffer heavy losses.

What are the prices of Chilgoza in big cities?

So far, we were mentioning the markets where Chilgoza is produced and the prices in those markets are also in that proportion, but when this Chilgoza is cooked and comes to the markets of big cities, its prices also increase.

Sahib Khan says that when raw Chilgoza is cooked in an oven, its weight decreases by 250 grams per kilogram, so its price then increases.

‘For example, if raw Chilgoza is available for Rs 3,000 per kilogram, then either its quantity decreases and if 700 or 750 grams are available instead of 1,000 grams, then its price is increased.’

In Peshawar’s Peepal Mandi, these days, slightly lower quality Chilgoza is being sold for Rs 5,000 per kilogram, while good quality Chilgoza is being sold for Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 per kilogram. Similarly, traders have also put up for sale peeled Chilgoza, i.e. Chilgoza kernels, and its price is said to be Rs 10,000 to 12,000.

According to traders, these prices fluctuate daily and these prices depend on the change in weather as well as the principles of demand and supply.

Mahmood Altaf, an officer of the forest department in Chilas, said that although the production increased this time, for this, work was done to reform the community and train them so that Chilgoza could be improved and the government also worked on the transportation of Chilgoza.

He said that the price of Chilgoza may increase with time.

Similarly, Hasnain Raza, Director of the Research Wing of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department, said that nurseries have been set up in Chilgoza production areas and work is underway to increase the production and size of Chilgoza and this will benefit the local people.