KOHAT: The harvest of guava fruit, a specialty of Kohat, is in full swing these days in orchards near the Rawalpindi road and Hangu and Bannu passes.

The fruit of Kaghazai area, famous for its colour and taste, is available in the market, but costlier than guava of other areas. Recently, its price dropped from R160 to Rs120 per kilogramme after the arrival of guava from Punjab which was being sold for Rs50 per kilogramme.

“Our fruit of Kaghazai area is in great demand in Peshawar and Rawalpindi where it fetches up to Rs200 per kilogramme providing respite to the orchard owners who wait for the season the whole summer,” said an orchard owner, Mumtaz.

He said that about 15 years ago the fruit was less famous, but with its popularity the prices of orchards on Hangu road had also increased from Rs500,000 to over Rs1 million depending on the number of trees.

Stalls selling guava could be seen these days on Hangu, Peshawar, Indus and Rawalpindi highways in Kohat as the visitors loved to take the fruit to their homes in other parts of the country. The local people also take it as a gift to their friends and relatives in Punjab. An agricultural officer, Mehfooz, said that it was a very delicate fruit whose shelf life was not more than 16 hours.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2016