Strategies for Apricot Value Chain Development in Chitral, Pakistan; ICIMOD Working Paper 2017/21

Apricot is the second most important fruit crop, after apple, covering 19% of the total fruit production in Chitral, Pakistan. It is cultivated in 264 of 522 villages (50.6%) in Chitral, mostly under the union councils of Charun, Mastuj, Mulkhow, Ovir, Kosht, and Koh. In these villages every household has apricot trees; the number ranges from a minimum of 10 trees to a maximum of 150 trees per household. Apricot is an important source of cash income to poor mountain households. On average a household produces 160 kg of dried apricot which brings an average income of PKR 17,000 per year.