Afghan crisis takes toll on Hyderabad dry fruit market

Hyderabad: The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has impacted export of dry fruits from the country. Imports of dry fruits have been disrupted, causing prices here to skyrocket. The dry fruit traders here are in panic over the stranded import of items. They say the price rise may also be due to absence of these commodities.

Afghanistan exports dry fruits including dried raisins (kishmish), walnut (akhrot), fig (anjeer), pine nut (chilgoza), pistachios, dried apricot (qubani), almonds, cashew, spices and medicinal herbs. It is the only source of apricot and dried fig.

According to traders at Begum Bazar, a major market of dry fruits, the country imports mainly walnut, apricot, pine nuts and fig from Afghanistan. Spices such as shahzeera, raw hing and small pistachio nuts are also sourced from that country. "Most dry fruits are imported into the city from Delhi. Disruption of Afghan imports has impacted the market," said a trader.

Raj Kumar of Tandon of Kashmir House said, "Afghan dry fruits, mainly the anjeer, chilgoza, kishmish, munakka and some spices are popular. Most customers prefer Afghan anjeer and chilgoza. Shortage of supply due to disruption of imports from that county triggered price hike. We hope everything will be fixed, and imports will start again."

Generally, Afghan commodities reach India through sea route, as containers reach Mumbai. Some containers are sent via land route, through Pakistan which reach Amritsar, and will be supplied from Delhi.

Traders claim the price rise has caused them significant financial losses. "During the ongoing pandemic, a large number of people have been consuming dry fruits, like figs, walnuts, and almonds, which were in huge demand. However, due to the price increase sales have decreased," said MA Wahab, a trader.

Now the price of fig in market is Rs 1,280 per kg and walnut is Rs 1,300 per kg. Earlier, the prices were between Rs 800 to Rs 900.

A customer at a dry fruit shop said, "I am a senior citizen. I usually purchase dry fruits, which are immunity boosters in this pandemic. But now with the prices rising, it has become difficult for ordinary man to afford dry fruits."

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad Kirana Merchants Association has expressed concern about the Afghan situation. Avinash Devda, secretary, said markets may be hit due to uncertainty there. "More than 30 per cent of materials come from Afghanistan. Prices are bound to increase as already supply has been stranded for the last 10 days. There is no guarantee whether the supply will start again or not." He said the city is a secondary market, as most materials come from Delhi and Mumbai.