The fruits of a warming valley
The scent of drying apricots once drifted through the mountain air of Chitral’s Kalash and Arkari valleys, where orchards heavy with fruit sustained families, traditions and local economies for generations. Today, those same orchards tell a different story. Blossoms are battered by untimely rains, fruit ripens too quickly under rising temperatures, and infestations rot produce before it can be harvested or dried. In the valleys once known for their abundance of apricots, pears and mulberries, climate change is steadily eroding both livelihoods and centuries-old cultural practices, leaving farmers uncertain about what each new season will bring.
The rising temperatures and unpredictable precipitation induced by climate change and global warming have jeopardised fruit production in the mountainous valleys of Chitral. Experts and farmers reveal that apricot production has been most severely affected over the past four to five years.
Local experts and orchard owners predict that the increase in temperature and unusual rainfall pattern this year could further reduce the local fruit yield of apricot, especially in the Kalash and Arkari valleys of Lower Chitral.
Shahi Gul, 48, a mother of six and the sole breadwinner of her family from Bumburate in Kalash Valley, has mulberry, apricot, walnut, pear, apple and cherry trees on her land.
Speaking about the impact of global warming on the region, she said that, like other parts of the country, temperature had gradually increased over the past four to five years. “The trend has affected all kinds of fruit production, but most of all apricots and pears have been affected,” adds Gul, lamenting that the production of these fruits has dwindled over the past several years.
“When the weather was favourable for these fruits, local people would dry mulberries, pears and apricots and store them for other seasons, while fresh fruit, which is in great demand, would be sold in the market,” she explains. “The situation has now changed, and people are hardly able to store enough even for their own use.”
Visitors to Kalash valley would buy pears, apricot kernels, dried mulberries and walnuts, the quality of which is well-known indeed. Farmers who have a large number of fruit trees on their land sell fruit in the market, but the high temperatures in the valley have led to fruit being destroyed and hence a decline in their income from Rs500,000 to around Rs100,000 per season.
“With this low income, we can hardly meet our expenses,” says Gul, whose children are enrolled in educational institutions, and she is only able to meet their expenses through farming and fruit production. The change in weather systems has affected her fruit farming so badly that it has become difficult for her to even manage her daily household expenses.
According to the 2025 data shared by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agriculture Department, Chitral tehsil including Kalash valley, produced 44 metric tons of apricots, 98 metric tons of apples, 71.5 metric tons of pears, 27.5 metric tons of peaches, 285.6 metric tons of walnuts and 12 metric tons of grapes.
Data also reveal that in Lotkoh tehsil, including Arkari valley, apricot production was recorded at 52.25 metric tons, apple production at 234.5 metric tons, pear production at 71.5 metric tons, peach production at 27.5 metric tons, walnut production at 226 metric tons and grapes production was four metric tons.
According to local experts and orchard owners, global warming and unpredictable rains could further reduce fruit production this year.
While discussing the dire effects of global warming, Shehzad Ahmad, Assistant Director Agriculture Extension Lower Chitral, pointed out that in the past, rainfall was timely, of shorter duration and less intense, but now the situation has changed.
“This year, rains arrived earlier than usual, and the intensity was higher and lasted much longer,” he reveals. “As a result, the blossom on apricot trees was damaged, which will have a negative impact on apricot production in the current season. Due to similar conditions, in 2023, apricot production was almost zero.”
Ahmad added that previously, precipitation took place after the fruit setting stage, but since the past three to four years, the pattern has shifted.
“Earlier, rains used to start after March 15, but now they are earlier and mostly begin from the first day of the month, which happens to be the blossoming season,” says Ahmad. “This year almost the entire month has passed by in precipitation. Along with weather systems, crop timing patterns have also changed.”
He also pointed out that there was an added factor behind the reduction in fruit production in the Kalash and Arkari. Arkari is a border valley of Lower Chitral, adjacent to Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province. Climate change and global warming had created a favourable environment for harmful insects and fungal infections, causing fruits to rot before reaching the market or when these are being dried for daily use.
Speaking about scientific research on how much global warming and rising temperatures in these valleys have affected fruits and crops, Ahmad said that no scientific study had been conducted so far, but the department plans to carry out research along with partner organisations.
Meerkai Bibi, 58, from Bumburate Valley, also owns a number of fruit trees. “A few years ago, snow remained in the area until March and April, keeping temperatures low,” she says. In the favourable climate, they used to dry some portion of the fruits, consume some themselves, while fresh pears were stored using traditional methods, she says.
The higher temperatures and humidity cause an infestation in apricots during the drying process, while pear production in low altitude areas has come to end. “Only walnut production is still thriving, whereas grapes, apricots, pears, apples and mulberries begin to rot before they fully ripen,” Meerkai Bibi explains. “These fruits are neither suitable for sale in the market, nor can we serve them to guests at home.”
Meerkai spoke about their traditional festival called Chawmos in December, during which it is customary to serve home-grown fruit to relatives and guests. This year, however, due to the low production of local fruits, they had to buy fruit from the market for the festival.
“I am worried that we can no longer offer fruit from our own orchards during traditional ceremonies, nor can we properly host guests from different parts of the country and the world, who visit the valley for its culture, beauty and natural gifts,” she says. “If the temperatures get any higher, we may lose most of our natural products.”
Like the Kalash Valley, the hot weather has also affected fruit and crop production, as well as their quality, in the Arkari Valley.
According to the locals, women from about 954 households are engaged in farming and kitchen gardening in the valley and this is the way they earn their livelihood. “Previously, apricots took almost a month to mature, but now they ripen in about 10 days due to warm weather,” says Sameena.
She added that fruit which used to be ready for picking by July and August, is now ready by the end of June, resulting in infestation and wastage.
“The shift in weather patterns has caused a 50 percent reduction in income from fruit production. “We have good quality apples, but due to global warming, we neither take them to the market on time nor can we make jam and murrabba with it,” she says. “Infestation destroys the fruit, incurring financial loss every season. This has been the case over the past five to six years.”
Ilyas Khan, 35, from Arkari Valley, recalls how there was no need to use fans when he was a child. Global warming has brought this change and now people need to install fans for summer.
“Even snowfall patterns have changed,” he says. “Some years ago, it began to snow in December, but now it has moved up to January and February. It even starts to melt away earlier, leaving the weather much warmer than it used to be.”
The rise in temperature not only has an adverse impact on fruit but the same is the case with vegetables. For instance, the production of potatoes, wheat and maize has suffered while their quality has deteriorated.
“Besides the direct impact on crops, global warming also impacts through torrential rains, flash floods and landslides that often cause road closures and blocked routes for many days,” Khan points out. “As a result, farmers are unable to transport their products to the market on time and it rots while in storage with us.”
Assistant Professor Dr Muhammad Ali, at the Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture Peshawar, said that the fruit fly is not native to these areas and previously not found in Swat and Chitral districts, but due to climate change and global warming, fruit flies have now emerged in the region, and are responsible for infestation. Additionally, birds and microbial organisms also damage fruit in the mountainous areas.
Some farmers are using fruit fly traps in their orchards, as well as deploying modern agriculture practices for the purpose of drying their fruit.
The Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2025 by Germanwatch, an independent development, environmental, and human rights organisation, reveals that Pakistan, Belize and Italy were among the countries most affected by climate change in 2022. The report includes information regarding the heavy monsoon season from June to September 2022, devastating floods, landslides and storms severely affected Pakistan, impacting more than 33 million people, killing around 1,700 and causing nearly $15 billion in damages.
For the people of Kalash and Arkari, climate change is no longer a distant environmental concern but a daily reality unfolding in their orchards, kitchens and festivals. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and growing infestations are not only reducing fruit yields and incomes, but also threatening traditions deeply tied to the land. Farmers who once relied on abundant harvests to feed their families and preserve local customs now struggle to save enough produce even for household use. Unless effective climate adaptation measures, scientific research and agricultural support systems are introduced, these valleys risk losing not just their prized fruits, but an entire way of life shaped by the rhythms of the mountains.
The writer is a Peshawar-based multimedia journalist. He tweets @TheAbdurRazzaq
All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer