Plucking the best

The Agha Qadir Dad agricultural market, located along the Sukkur Barrage on the left bank of the Indus River, is, in fact, the largest dry dates (Chowhara) market not only in Pakistan but in Asia too.

The most famous of these is the Aseel dates. In addition, Cupra, Khurma and other dates are also produced in large quantities.

The raw yellow date palms are plucked from the trees, cooked in large pots and laid on the ground for drying and later packed in bags and delivered to the market.

The dry dates is used in various religious ceremonies in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries of the world. The biggest buyer of Pakistani dry dates is India, while the use of dry dates is also very high in Pakistan. These days a large quantity of dry dates is also being exported to Afghanistan.

Sukkur’s Chowhara market has an every year turnover of 2.8 million to 3 million bags of dry dates. Each bag carries two mand (80 kilos) of dry dates. Around 300 traders are associated with this business. It employs thousands of people in the process of packing and exporting to different countries. The morning in Chowhara market starts with the bidding of different types. Traders from the local and other cities take part in this bidding process.

The dry dates’ market has a daily turnover of billions of rupees. Thousands of dry date bags are transported from the market to other cities of the country and abroad.

The season for buying and selling of dry dates begins from August till April. The new crop of dry dates starts reaching the market in July.

Traders from across the country come to the market and participate in the bidding process. The market is also supporting the transport business, as hundreds of trucks and trailers leave the market every week, carrying sacks of dates from the market to Karachi Port for domestic transportation and foreign exports. The market has generated thousands of job opportunities for both men and women.

A few years ago, dry dates was transported from Sukkur to India through the Wagah Border, as 80 per cent of the Pakistani dry dates’ production was bought by India. But due to worsening Pakistan-India relations, the dry dates’ business came to a halt. In the last few years, the traders of dry dates have suffered huge losses, owing to the closure of Wagah Border. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) should play a significant role in finding new markets for the produce.

Pakistan has had a good harvest of dates this year but due to the closure of Wagah Border, the traders have not been able to make much profit.

Other than India, Pakistan is exporting dry dates to other several countries through Dubai. The Indian traders are now buying around 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the produce from Dubai. Pakistan is also exporting the produce to Bangladesh and Nepal.

According to Dil Jatoi, president of the Agha Qadir Dad Agricultural Market Association, the date crop has been very good this year and more or less three million bags of dry dates have come in the market.

“If the trade with India through the Wagah Border was continuing as usual, the local traders could have fetched good profits,” Jatoi said. The types of dates are considered to be the best in the world but this product has not been effectively marketed by the authorities concerned.

“The government should play its due role in promoting the produce and find new markets. Through proper marketing of the local dry dates, the country can earn huge foreign exchange,”
Jatoi said.