SHANGLA: Grafting of red persimmon on the black one is getting popular in Shangla as people are forced to find new sources of income to ward off the runaway inflation.

It is to mention here that red persimmon, also locally called ‘Japani fruit’, is a specialty of Shangla with fruits usually arrives in the markets with the start of winter. However, people also grow the black variety of the fruit, which is usually smaller in size and eaten after it gets dried, but has little market value.

People, who don’t know how to graft, have hired experts for the purpose since the grafting period started in February.

Azizur Rehman, an elderly from Mula Baba area, who is an expert in grafting, told Dawn he had learned the skill from a relative in Swat, and started practicing it in his own orchard here, and the results were good.

“I also help other people turn their black persimmon trees into red ones,” he said.

Mr Rehman said the runaway inflation had forced people to do grafting as the red persimmon brought handsome dividends to the growers in the market.

He said he had completed grafting in around a dozen orchards in Pir Abad, Mian Kallay, Pagorai, Bely Baba, Mula Baba, Basi and other villages.

Amn Faraz, a plant grafting expert in Shang area of Bisham, said people used to graft in their houses, orchards, and fields in their spare time in the past, but now the practice was diminishing.

Mr Faraz said he had learned these skills from his colleagues from Haripur in 1981 when he used to work as a daily wager in the Kohistan watershed department.

Abdullah, who is a Class-IV employee, said he had grafted black persimmon trees in his orchard in Pir Abad area. He said he was expecting high yield of the ‘Japani fruit’ in the coming years.

He said survival amid rocking inflation was becoming difficult for most people, who were now looking for new ways to generate incomes.

Abdullah said the local agriculture department didn’t extend any help to pursue people do grafting for generating incomes. He said people paid huge amounts to get black persimmon seeds and plants from private outlets.

The farmers urged the department to provide them with fruit plants and also conduct workshops, imparting grafting skills to the youth.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2023