By Dr. Adalat Khan
MINGORA: With over 90,000 walnut trees in the different parts of Swat valley, walnut is one of the important sources of earning livelihood for small scale farmers of the valley, say agriculture experts.
Walnut tree, botanically known as Juglans regia is generally grown on wasteland, ridges and farm boundaries. The trees are also naturally grown in the forestland of Swat concentrated in few pockets. Majority of households own two to four trees, which play an important role in their annual cash flow. A mature tree can produce from 70 kg to 200 kg.
However there are variations in production due to management, practices and natural calamities etc.
Currently, majority of the walnut farmers sell their produce to local shopkeepers and middlemen who further sell the produce in markets of Mingora, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore etc. The major traders engage laborers in proper sorting, grading and separating kernels from the quality walnut which are sold at national and international markets with high prices. The price of one ton quality walnut is estimated Rs 250,000 to 350,000.
According to estimates Swat contributes about 30 percent of walnut trees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The walnut trees are found in large number in Madyan, Bahrain, Kalam, Sakhra, Gwalerai, Shawar valleys of Tehsil Matta, Malam Jabba valley Miandam, Fatehpur and Shin areas of Swat.
Although there is no reliable data on the total number of walnut trees in district Swat but discussions with farmers, traders and officials of the forest department indicate that number of the fruit bearing trees is around 70,000 to 90,000 in the district while 30,000 to 40,000 are non-bearing trees.
Malteser International also planted 32,000 of Pecan and seeded walnut in district Swat in 2015 and 2016 as part of its project “Improving Food Security and Strengthening of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Chail Valley, Swat” which was implemented with the financial assistance of World Food Program (WFP) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The project, not only, distributed 32,000 plants among interested farmers but also incorporate the plantation campaign with food security and livelihood. The farmers were engaged in cash for work in digging pits for these plants in forest and agriculture lands identified by community organizations.
The project chose walnut trees for plantation because this is the major fruit in the area in the management of which woman could participate actively. They work inside their houses to separate kernels from the walnut shells and help male family members in packing and packaging for which they are paid while many other women run their business independently.
32,000 walnuts plants will, not only, play their role in preventing soil erosion and land sliding but will also enhance food security and livelihood in the long run.
Majority of the producers are small farmers having very few trees and less quantity of produce. There is no marketing association of producers which can do collective marketing with more bargaining power. Due to this problem the producers are bound to sell their produce to local shopkeepers and middlemen with lower prices. They are also unable to add value to their produce such as kernel separation, oil extraction and attractive packing due to lack of knowledge and awareness and which deprive them from additional income which is taken away by middlemen and traders.
As an agriculture expert, especially walnut expert, I do suggest Malteser International and its partners such as WFP and SDC to intervene in these potential areas in their future projects in district Swat.
Dr. Adalat Khan is a Plant Protection Specialist in the Department of Agriculture Extension, District Swat. He can be reached via his email:kadalat1@yahoo.com
