SHANGLA: Persimmon is the popular fruit of Shangla where over 2,000 orchards exist and trees of red and tasty persimmon line the roads of the valley.

Local people say that the persimmon produced in Shangla has a unique taste anditsbeautiful shapeandcolourattract buyers. The fruit is locally known as `Soor Amlok` or red persimmon.

`There is no proper market and facility in the district to preserve and export the fruit. We can play our role in increasing foreign exchange for the country if such arrangements were made by the government,` said Amir Zeeb Khan, a farmer, while talking to this correspondent.

He said that these days the fruit was being supplied in big quantities to the markets in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and other cities. `Score of workers can be seen in the gardens and orchards picking persimmon and earning a handsome amount of money.

The fruit harvest this year is more than the previous seasons and thebusiness is increasing with the passage of time,` Mr Khan said.

He regretted that there was no proper market to supply the fruit on time to the cities and export it. He said that 25 per cent of the persimmon fruit was wasted in the orchards. He added that the government should take steps to make sure in time supply of persimmon to the market.

Farooq, owner of several persimmon orchards at Bely Baba, said he had been supplying packed persimmon fruit to different parts of the country. He said that the persimmonbusiness was also a source of income for the poor workers, while students also used to pick the fruit at orchards to earn pocket money.

`The government`s interest to find foreign markets for persimmon would contribute to revenue generation,` he said, adding that owing to the government`s negligence growers of persimmon had been suffering.

A local agricultural expert said that persimmon was the only f ruit which did not need fertilizer and water. He said that the fruit was more useful for human health than other types of fruit.