www.chitraltimes.com

Potato crop changes the fate of the farmers in Lotkoh valley

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: The bumper crop of red potato in the Garam Chashma valley has changed the very destiny of the farmers fetching them high returns in the national market during the last three years, the farmers said here on Sunday. Talking to chitraltimes.com, they said that the residents of the remote and backward valley of Garam Chashma were engaged in subsistence farming and cultivated wheat, barely and maize with too low production to meet their needs throughout the year. They said that some years ago, the farmers started cultivation of potato in the area as advised by the agriculturists of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) as the area was most suitable and congenial for the crop due to its low temperature and high altitude. They said that the AKRSP provided not only technical assistance to the farmers but also provided them with guidance about marketing the product. They said that the product of the valley earned fame in the very first year of cultivation and received demand of thousands of bags from the down districts. Mohkamuddin, the worker of a development organization, said that the local product is known for its superb quality, which is in high demand in the market outside the district. He said that the traders from the other districts and provinces throng the valley well before harvesting of the crop and purchase the product from the farmers in advance. He said that the farmers now sell their product on competitive rates in the situation and earn handsomely. He said that the farmers have almost given up cultivating other crops and spend their energies to improve the single crop of potato. The commercial scale cultivation of the crop on modern lines has engaged the local manpower and provided employment to them. A farmer Bajgi Khan said that he works in his field along with his four sons and earns enough to live comfortably with a sizeable savings in his pocket. He said that in the past, the residents of the valley used to the down districts to work as labourers in the winter season but now work in their own fields and earn in respectable manners and very few people go outside the valley to seek employment. The farmers said that the only fault with the local variety of potato is that it decays faster and lasts only for four months after harvesting. They demanded construction of cold storage houses to preserve the commodity.