KOHAT: The decades old fig trees are fast dying in many orchards here after being attacked by a pest called borer.

The experts blame the problem on the lack of awareness on part of fig growers.

Fig trees have been grown in many Hangu Road guava orchards in large numbers. Not only they serve as a protection wall but they earn the growers a good sum of money as well.

The experts recommend that the people with diabetes and chronic constipation eat the sweet and soft fruit fresh and pile patients dried.

Former agricultural officer Mehfooz Elahi told Dawn that the borer was three inches long and was thick like the index finger.

He said the bug was born in the roots of fig trees and it slowly ate them and truck away.

Mr Elahi said after the bug attack, the fig produce dropped gradually, while the tree dried up in few years.

He said the average age of a fig tree was 50 years but the duration could be increased to two more decades by proper care.

The expert advised growers to contact the nearest agriculture office for the treatment of the affected trees.

He said a tablet was placed in the roots of fig tree to prevent the borer attack.

Elder Pir Rafiullah Shah said his hujra used to have a large fig tree, whose produce was sent to friends every year but the bug attack had dehydrated it few years ago.

A member of the Shahzada family said they had grown a fig tree in hujra but that had died after the borer attack.

He said all attempts by hujra caretaker Nayyar Shezada to save the tree remained futile.

The growers said many fig trees grown in Junglekhel area had also dried up, while orchard owners had replaced fig trees with guava ones.

The orchard owners demanded of the agriculture department to launch a large-scale awareness campaign to prevent and control borer attacks.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2019