Climate change has a negative impact on strawberry output

The production of seasonal fruits is a major source of income for agricultural families living in impoverished mountainous regions. However, as the harmful effects of climate change begin to affect Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)’s rainfall patterns, many poor families will be left with destroyed crops in their fields.

The shift in the monsoon season in K-P, which now coincides with the period when the cash crop of strawberries, a specialty of Charsadda, is to be planted, is indicative of the effects of global warming and climate change. Planted in October and November, the strawberry crop ripens and becomes ready to be harvested in April. Sadly, the unusual rains this year caused a major setback to strawberry production, destroying about 80% of the fruit’s crop and leaving farmers in a terrible state as they were left with only subpar strawberries that could only be sold at low prices.

Mutahir Shah from Charsadda was one such farmer who has been growing strawberry cash crops for the past 17 years. Due to the heavy rains this year, his eight-kanal strawberry patch is completely destroyed. “The out-of-season rains caused my field to flood at the busiest part of harvest season. The rains had a negative impact on the strawberries, which cover about a thousand acres; the fruits were smaller and more distorted. This year, we had to sell our strawberries for just Rs100, instead of the usual Rs250–Rs300 per kg,” Shah lamented.

A field of one acre may produce 400 kg of strawberries. Sadly, hailstorms and heavy rains have wrecked everything this year. According to strawberry dealer Akhtar Bacha, “this has had a significant impact on the daily earnings of locals associated with the strawberry business.”

A young guy named Usman Khan, who used to handpick strawberries from a neighboring field, backed Bacha’s assertions. “In the past, I would receive Rs. 200 for every hour I worked picking strawberries. But this season, I’m really worried since I can’t find a job because the strawberry crop is so scarce,” said Khan, who was looking forward to the second strawberry season to come in the hopes of finding a job.

Dr. Attaur Rehman, the former head of the University of Peshawar’s environmental department, said that changes in the monsoon season and changes in rainfall patterns brought about by global warming and climate change were having an impact on agricultural productivity in the higher regions of K-P. Dr. Attaur Rehman stated, “Both fruit and wheat production has been halted due to continuous rain and lack of sunshine,” and believed that damming up surplus rainfall was necessary to prevent the harmful consequences of climate change.

The climate crisis is underway in K-P, where sources from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) report that heavy rainfall has claimed the lives of 46 locals while injuring 60 others across the province. Furthermore, a sum total of 2,875 houses were damaged as a result of wall and roof collapses across various districts including Khyber, Upper and Lower Dir, Chitral, Swat, Bajaur, Shangla, Mansehra, Mohmand, Malakand, Kirk, Tank, Mardan, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Buner, Hangu, Bitgram, Bannu, North and South Waziristan, Kohat, DI Khan and Karzai.

The K-P government has allocated Rs110 million to flood-affected people, but more has to be done to address the problems caused by climate change in the province, which might result in future landslides, floods, and food shortages.