Hundreds of orange orchards have dried up in the Rabat area of Lower Dir due to which the owners of the crops have been deprived of their cash crop. Meanwhile, persimmon orchards in the area have been damaged by bats.
There were originally hundreds of orange and persimmon orchards in the Lower Dir district: fruit from these orchards was supplied to the whole country. Owners of these orchards also used to send fruit to their friends and relatives throughout the country. Flooding of the Panjkora river in 2010 damaged the irrigation system in Rabat. Afterwards, lack of rains and changed climate patterns also played role in damage to the orchards. So far hundreds of orange orchards have dried up due to not getting water in time.
Local farmers said they used to earn tons of rupees from their orange orchards and it was their main source of income. It was a great source of income and they were living quite happily until the drought-like situation caused their orchards to dry up. They said orange production has reduced to a great extent due to lack of water. The farmers said they provide water to their orchards through generators which is expensive method and in the end their earnings have been impacted severely.
According to menafn.com , farmers have also claimed that bats have damaged persimmon orchards badly. They said they were confronting the issue of bat attacks on the orchards since long, but now the situation has gone from bad to worse. They said bats attack persimmon orchards every evening and eat fruit. The farmers are very concerned over this problem and they are forced to arrange lights in their orchards during night time.
The farmers of Rabat called upon the government to help them revive their orchards. They said irrigation system must be revived in Rabat on emergency basis which was damaged during flood nine years ago. They said revival of the orchards will revive the local economy and the condition of farmers will improve. They said revival of their orchards will also ensure availability for quality fruit in the market.
