KHOST (Pajhwok): Pine nut yield tripled this year, but the dried fruit's price remains low, some traders in southeastern Khost province say, urging the government to pave the way for exports to foreign countries.

Pine nuts collected from the forests of Loya Paktia, especially Khost, are taken to the Khost city every year during autumn. Traders first dump the pine nut clusters on an empty field in front of the administrative complex in the west of the city to become dry and ready for processing.

Traders say although pine nut harvest increased this year, their prices are very low due to lack of access to international markets, barring China.

“The pine nut market is lukewarm this year. Last year, 50 kilograms of pine nuts fetched about 80,000 afghanis, but this year the price hovers between 30,000 and 35,000 afghanis, which is not profitable,” said Sattar Ali, a pine nut trader.

Another local pine nut trader, Akbar Khan Zadran, said that if the government paved the way for exporting pine nuts to other countries besides China, the value of Afghanistan's dried fruit would increase.

He added:“We have an international civil airport in Khost. The government should arrange flights from here to foreign countries so that we can directly export our pine nuts.”

Meanwhile, Shahzada Zadran, the head of the Pine Nut Traders' Association in Khost, said that last year, about 5,000 tons of pine nuts were obtained from the forests of Loya Paktia (Khost, Paktia and Paktika), but this year the yield reached 20,000 tons, showing a three-fold increase.

Zadran said if the government failed to create the opportunity to export pine nuts to other countries other than China, traders would incur severe financial losses.

He said that last year, 50 kilograms of pine nuts were sold for 80000 to 100000 afghanis, but this year they were being sold for 30,000 to 35,000 afghanis.

“Currently our biggest market for pine nuts is China, and from China they are exported to European countries. The Afghan government should provide us with the opportunity to export them directly to European countries at the price of China. For the past several years, our pine nut traders have been facing losses because we now only have one market.”

On the other hand, Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesman for the Khost governor, told Pajhwok that they were trying to export pine nuts from the Khost International Airport.

Gurbaz added that the provincial administration also plans to arrange cold storage facilities to preserve pine nuts.

He added:“The provincial administration has repeatedly tried to export pine nuts from the Khost International Airport to other countries, and similar measures have been taken regarding safe storage facilities.”

According to information, pine nuts worth 14 million US dollars were exported abroad during the 1403 solar year, with the bulk going to China.

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