Dry fruits are the best nutritious snacks to munch on, especially during the winters! Even cities such as Karachi where it’s never really cold, the population flocks to dry fruit vendors in search of good quality peanuts, walnuts, almonds and the like.
Don’t know why dry fruits are amazing? Take a look below!
Health Benefits
While dry fruits are generally not consumed in an abundant quantity all year around due to perceptions of them being bad for you, the reality is that dry fruits are extremely beneficial for health.
Barring any medical conditions, it is generally recommended to eat a handful of assorted nuts in a day as they are a powerhouse of essential nutrients.
Some highlighting benefits are as follows:
- Consumption of almonds helps in maintaining blood cholesterol levels at an optimum level, along with providing a considerable amount of fiber and stabilizing blood sugar levels.
- Walnuts are notoriously known as “brain food” due to the presence of compounds such as vitamin E, Omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants that work to enhance cognitive function. They also have cancer fighting abilities.
- Dates are another form of dried fruit that are chock full of iron and deliver a boost of energy. Dates are also incredibly helpful in aiding digestion and helping to relieve constipation.
- Consumption of nuts reduces risk of osteoporosis, a debilitating disorder. Prunes in particular are helpful in both preventing and reversing bone loss.
Now that you know the goodness of dry fruits, learn about how Pakistan has the best ones!
Dry Fruits in Pakistan
Pakistan is an unbelievably blessed country with an adverse range of capabilities in literally every genre. You name it, we have it! This is particularly true for dry fruits, which Pakistan has an abundance of.
In fact, not only does Pakistan produce plenty of assorted dry fruits, but also has the capacity to export many of them. The economy of the areas of Gilgit and Balltistan largely depends on dry fruits.
The area is famous for producing high quality almonds, apricots, cherries and other dry fruits. Did you know that an astonishing 120,650 tons of almonds are produced here every year?
Walnuts
Walnuts are a popular dry fruit in Pakistan. They are produced in northern region of KPK province in districts of Swat, Dir, Bunir, Chitral, Shangla and Malakand Agency.
Many selections of walnuts grow in these areas, however, properly trained manpower, breeding of high quality yields and education of farmers is necessary in order to increase yield and production area.
Groundnut
Groundnut is an important cash crop. It is being cultivated on huge areas throughout Pakistan.
Both yield as well as the area under production is increasing every year. However, the overall market for groundnuts is limited.
Chilghoza (Pinus gerardiana)
Did you know the extremely-difficult-to-eat Chilghoza has an equally difficult to pronounce name? Yeah, me neither.
The Suleiman Range has the world’s largest pure stand of Chilghoza forests! It is quite sad, however, that due to a lack of awareness, people are cutting down these trees in order to sell the timber for livelihood.
This is largely due to the fact that the local population is unaware of the untapped potential. Given access to the right tools and information, such as proper collection procedures, roasting, sorting and packing practices, the income for the local population could grow at least 4-fold.
Figs
Figs are among the oldest fruits to be cultivated on Earth. They’re called “Injeer” in the local language and hold a unique importance for Muslims as it is said to be a fruit of the Heaven, and has been mentioned in the Holy Quran as well.
Figs too are produced in abundance in Pakistan.
In Balochistan and in parts of upper Punjab where figs are cultivated, farmers also say that they are producing more than before.
Contrary to production, exports of dry fruits are recorded systematically and going by trade statistics of the last five years, one can see a mixed trend in the export of certain dry fruits, officials of TDAP say.
“But, on balance, overall forex earnings of dry fruits have definitely shown a rising trend in the past few years,” says one TDAP official linking it to the recovery of dry fruits production in KP. In FY15, the latest year for which official stats are available, export earnings of dry fruits and nuts (as well as dried fresh fruits) rose to $48m from less than $32m in FY14.
Experts, however, point out that the bulk of the dry fruits exported from the country are nothing but re-exports, adding that every year tonnes of Afghan dry fruits find their way into KP markets unofficially and are exported to the world markets from Pakistan.
They say that before the lifting of the sanctions on Iran, the same was true for some dry fruits coming into Balochistan from Iran.
These exporters guesstimate actual export earnings of Pakistani dry fruits and nuts as far lesser than $48m. They explain that this amount includes not only exports of dry fruits and nuts of Afghan origin but dry fruit preparations as well.
Meanwhile, exports of fresh fruits, which are far larger than that of dry fruits and nuts, increased from $292m in FY11 to $438.5m in FY15 before taking a dip to $427m in FY16. In four months of this fiscal year, the country earned $122m through exports of fresh fruits.
Exporters say if the kinnow export target of $200m is met then total fruit exports in FY17 may reach $450m.
For the past few years, the federal and provincial governments have prioritised enhancing the output of fruit production and managing their quality. In the current fiscal year, for example, the government of Punjab has launched a three-year, Rs227m fruit fly management project for mangoes and guava orchards.
In the Ziarat and Kalat districts of Balochistan, apple gardening and packaging facilities are being set up at a cost of Rs50m. Similarly, a date processing and packaging unit is being set up in the Mekran region to help boost exports of fresh dates grown there. Besides, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council has recently trained 1,000 farmers of the province in best fruit farming practices.
Fruit exporters say over the years the value chain of fruits has improved but a lot still needs to be done particularly in terms of setting up inland transportation. They also lament that the promised funding for setting up fruit and forest plant nurseries (launched last year under the prime minister’s scheme for youth loans) is not coming.
Exporters say new export markets for Pakistani fruits are opening up in China and in the Far Eastern countries. And access to European markets has improved after stricter compliance of their fruit import standards.
But the government support in marketing is amiss. “Our foreign trade missions usually don’t help us tap export opportunities the way the Indian and the Chinese do. We often hear of new opportunities opening up in certain markets long after our competitors have already tapped them,” says an official of the Pakistan Vegetable and Fruit Exporters Association.
“Besides, online export marketing facilities are almost non-existent. One reason for this is that web portal managing companies or individuals don’t get bank funding.”
In addition to this, structural issues like lack of cold chain facilities and high post-harvest losses in fruits (as well as dry fruits) continue to mar export potential. The provincial governments of Punjab and KP claim to have made progress in these two areas. In Punjab the participation of the private sector is more visible.
Two separate programmes, one each for kinnow and mangoes, have reduced post-harvest losses of citrus fruits and mangoes with the help of the private sector, officials claim.
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