Scarcely citrus: Rising commercialisation - A bane for Khanpur orchards

Diversion of Khanpur Dam’s water to the twin cities affecting irrigation of orange crop.

HARIPUR: Famous for its oranges, Khanpur valley has been witnessing a considerable decline in the yield of citrus fruits due to rapid commercialisation of arable land in the last few years . The orchards that once produced some of the best fruits in the country, their land is now being utilised for housing societies. This has not only reduced the fruit and vegetable produce but is also adversely affecting on the valley’s ecosystem, according to experts.

Spread over around 280 hectares in the Panj Katha area, the Khanpur orange orchards are famous for their juice content and taste, producing around 2,200 to 2,400 tones of fruit per annum, said officials of Crop Reporting Centre Haripur. All varieties of citrus fruit such as red blood, sackry, mussamy, hamlin, washington naval, ruby red, early fruiter and grapefruit are sold at makeshift kiosks linking the Khanpur and Abbottabad roads. The varieties are available in the local market from early December till April end.

A good number of unskilled manpower is always utilised in the plantation, hoeing, watering, gathering and packing of the fruit around the year. However commercialisation of the land, especially that under orange cultivation, and shortage of water has forced farmers to chop off orchards.

According to local revenue officials the area has lost several citrus orchards that were spread over an area of about 500 to 625 acres during the last three years. A local farmer, Ziafat, said that most of the orchard land has been utilised by housing societies due to water shortage. “Our water from the Khanpur Dam is being given to Islamabad, which is causing a reduction in the citrus yield.” He said that the people of Khanpur sacrificed their land for Khanpur Dam but in turn were deprived of their water share for irrigation.

Ziafat said that due to water scarcity an orange tree that used to produce 800 to 1,000 fruits now only produces about 300 to 400 fruits, that also with a shrunken weight and size.

According to local agriculturalist Sadiq Shah, the reason for the decline in the produce is the change in climatic conditions since the last two decades. He said before 1988, the Khanpur region used to receive an annual rainfall of about 1,000 to 1,200 mm which has now fallen between 700 and 800 mm. This dry spell has affected the underground water level, while the diversion of Khanpur Dam water to Rawalpindi and Islamabad has also reduced the amount of water available for citrus irrigation. The biggest citrus orchard chopped during the last few years were Faredia Farms of Nawabzada Salauddin Khan of the former state of Amb and Hazara, in place of which various housing societies have been established.

About 50 per cent of the locals have been rendered jobless as the small landlords are giving preference to selling out their fertile land for housing societies instead of growing fruits on them, said Muhammad Nawaz, another farmer. He said the cost of agricultural practises has increased manifold as opposed to the produce, which is also forcing the farmers to sell their land.

However, Saira Zahoor Awan, a local environmentalist termed the unchecked and growing trend of cutting down of orchards for commercial purpose as “an alarming situation for the ecosystem” and demanded practical steps to be taken for protecting the fruit production and fertility of the Khanpur Valley. She also demanded a ban to be put on housing societies on agriculture land and orchards for environment protection.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2011.