Peanuts herald advent of winter

Sharp increase in price irks people; Chinese, Potohar varieties among hot favourites

RAWALPINDI: With the onset of winter across the country, the tempting peanut stalls have popped up at every nook and cranny of the garrison city.

Peanuts are the cheapest dry fruit that are equally nutritious and palatable. Their production increases in the winter season and varieties of peanuts are available in markets.

With the prices of the variety of dry fruit being out of purchasing power of the common man, the peanuts still serve as still-affordable pastime despite the fact that its per kilogramme (kg) prices have increased by Rs150 compared to the last year and being sold at Rs400 per kg. This is the primary reason behind its increasing demand and sale elsewhere in the country including Rawalpindi.

There are different varieties of peanuts available in Rawalpindi including those supplied from South Punjab as well as imported from China.

Saeed Nazeer, a man who has completed the silver jubilee of his association with the business and runs a shop at City Saddar Road, told The Express Tribune that both retailers and consumers were worried about the hike in its prices during the current season. Higher rates mean lesser sales and thus lesser profits for retailers, he explained..

Regarding the imported variety, he said that peanuts from China have large pods. Some pods have four seeds, though three are average, he said. The indigenous peanuts from Potohar region were comparatively small and pods have one to two nuts but not more than three.

The local peanuts were smaller, but many people still prefer to purchase the local variety as the imported one was no match in crunchiness, freshness, and taste with the home-grown variety.

Commenting on the high prices this year, Saeed completely ruled out the fall of rupee value against the dollar and said that it was mainly due to the hike in prices of firewood used in the preparing process as well as the cost of the labour that had increased over time. Citing another reason for this, he added that the commercial billing and other expenses were also a major reason behind the hike.

Further, the lovers of the dry-fruit complained that it was only last year that they could purchase a 0.25kg bag of peanuts for Rs40 however, now they have to pay Rs100 for the same bag.

They said that not everyone could afford the dry-fruits whose prices have skyrocketed over the years and peanuts were considered one of the items that everybody including the poor could easily purchase, however, they lamented, due to high price, it had gone beyond the purchasing power of many people.

Peanuts contain many nutrients such as folic acid, protein, adhesive, and sugar. By consuming it, anemia would be overcome.

Apart from this, research has proved that it is worthwhile to increase the body's immune system and also use groundnut to maintain good heart health.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2019.