Other than being rich in resources, Balochistan is also called the Fruit Basket of Pakistan. The province shares 90 percent of the national production of grapes, cherries and almonds.
Almost 60 percent of peaches, pomegranates, apricots and around 34 percent apples and 70 percent of dates are exported from Balochistan.
A total of 149,726 hectares are covered by fruit crops and nearly 889,490 tonnes of production is successfully achieved every year. Over thousands of tonnes of apples are exported from Balochistan annually and around 80 percent of the quality apples are produced in the province. Fruit production in Balochistan is dependent on ground water. The province is also well-known for its grape production of different varieties. Mostly the grapes are grown in Quetta, Pishin, Kalat, Zhob, Loralia and other districts.
Nearly, 1 Million tons of fruits are produced only in Balochistan and
mainly, the apples and dates are the most well-known fruits, and they are exported into other places. Pakistan enjoys robust position in the world apple market because of Balochistan where 80 percent of the apples are produced. It is unfortunate that, despite of getting profits from apple, no treatment plant for their preservation was established by the government in past.
