Dry fruit demand goes up amid high rates as winter sets in

MULTAN, Nov 17 (APP):With the advent of the winter season, the demand for dry fruits has been increased in the city with a remarkable prices hike as compared to the last year.

The shopkeepers of dry-fruit in different markets of the city have significantly hiked the prices because there was no proper check and balance on rates and missing rate lists by the market committees.

The peanuts were being sold in the city market at Rs 400 which was 240 to 300 per kg last year, Grams at Rs300 to 350/kg against Rs 180 to 200 last year, varieties of Almonds at Rs 1000 to 1800/kg which was Rs 800 to 1600 previous year, Pistachio with and without shell at Rs 2200 and 2600/kg respectively, varieties of Walnut at Rs 800 to 1600/kg, dried-up dates at 250 to 300/kg, Pine nut (Chilgoza) at Rs. 3400 to 4000/kg, cashew at Rs 2200 to 2800 while apricots were being sold in the open market at a price of Rs 1200 to 1400/kg.

The shopkeeper of dry fruits has raised prices of dry fruits and charged exorbitant rates as there is no mechanism to control prices of such items by the district administration and market committees.
A dry fruit shopkeeper Ahmed Ali told this news agency that the dry fruit dealers use to store dry fruits, which resulted in a shortage of the commodities in the market and a price hike.

He, however, maintained that this is only one reason for the price hike.
The prices of dry fruits including Almond, pistachio, walnut, pine nut (chilghoza), date, cashew nut (Kaju), apricot, and peanut increased in the winter season as these are mostly demanded items.

Another shopkeeper Muhammad Aslam told APP on Wednesday that due to high prices of dry-fruits, sale of these items has been decreased up to 49 percent as compared to the previous year.

He said that they used to purchase these items from the open markets with high prices that is why he was selling these items with a low margin.
He said that the daily sale was Rs 10000 to 15000 the previous year which was decreased to 6000 to 8000 daily this season due to low public interest in the purchase of dry fruits.

Muhammad Waleed Irshad, another citizen said that the high rates have made these items out of reach of the common man.
He said that the shopkeepers and open market traders have increased the rates for their own benefits.

He suggested district government for taking strict action against those elements involved in artificial inflation by adopting the zero-tolerance policy.