IT is heartening to note that the current government plans to continue the billion tree plantation drive that was initiated by the previous government. While the focus is on domestic trees, we need to tweak our strategy a bit.

How about planting trees which give us fruits in the erstwhile Fata that has been ravished by militancy? They will not only reclaim the forests, but would also provide livelihood to the poor.

Versatile Pakistani climate and hardworking Pakistani farmers can produce almost anything. Lychee and strawberry, which were not available in Pakistan till a few years ago, are now grown on thousands of acres and are available all over the country.

An innovative farmer of Toba Tek Singh is producing fruits like avocado, black berry, jack fruit, passion fruit, ana apple, logan fruit, Thai mulberry, Australian red cherry plum, umbrella fruit, peanut butter fruit, red custard apple, etc.

That being so, we may use this human enterprise to try different options in addition to the conventional ones. And, in doing so, we may take a cue from Bhutan. While villagers there were migrating to the cities, a husband-wife team Mountain Hazelnuts (MH) entered the fray with the idea of arresting deforestation and, in return, providing livelihood to the farmers. They developed a state-of-the-art nursery, provided free saplings and trained the farmers to look after the trees.

They involved all the stakeholders, including farmers, government officials and members of parliament. MH became one of the biggest companies in Bhutan in terms of manpower. Due to its success, people migrated back to their towns and villages from the cities.

The arrangement was that the hazel nuts once produced would be bought by the company at a reasonable price. They have already planted seven million saplings and the plan is to take it to 10 million. These trees will give fruits and no one cuts the fruit-bearing trees. It took three years for those saplings to bear fruit.

In 2019, about 24 tonnes of hazel nuts were exported to the United States, which has a $8 billion market. The company plans to increase production to 40 tonnes. Turkey remains the biggest producer of hazel nut and has 70 per cent of the world hazel nut market, which is growing at 6pc.

With close friendship between Turkey and Pakistan, we can learn from their experiences and give our deforested land a cover of hazel nuts. We can also contact MH and seek their assistance.

The beauty is that the hazel nuts can be planted on plains, hills and mountains. So, why not get started by planting hazel nut and other fruit trees that may also contribute to our fragile economy? It is a win-win thing if executed properly.

S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2022