Enjoying the ‘Mong yu da Khyber Zalmi’ Pashto song on his mobile phone during the unloading of his truck laden with ornamental and fruit plants, Ali Qadir (30) is asking helpers to hurry up and shift the huge stock through handcarts to his nursery located at Tarnab before the sun sets.

Called ‘Lala’ by the laborers and fellow plant sellers, Qadir, who is wearing the traditional Chitrali cap, is taking extra care while separating the expansive plants, including araucaria, ganga palms, red roses, night blooming jasmine, and gladiolus, from other ordinary plants and urges the workers to keep them under the plastic sheds and in the veranda in the wake of climate vagaries.

“I brought these plants from Pattoki, Kasur district, due to the high profit margin and varieties of native and exotic plants. Next week, I will again visit Pattoki to bring another truckload of plants after witnessing people’s positive response in the spring tree plantations,” said the graduated plant seller, who inherited the horticulture business from his father, Abdul Qadir, to APP.

“The spring is a peak season for our business, and we usually earn Rs 100,000 to $200,000 from each truck in Peshawar,” he said, adding that in case of unfavorable weather and plants’ diseases, the expansive species may wither or die, which causes huge financial losses to plant sellers in Tarnab, where about 50 nurseries having around 1,000 laborers earn their livelihood.”

“Our priority for the sale of plants is the government and national building organizations, including forest department besides NGOs due to high-profit margin,” he said, adding plant sellers have started receiving substantial orders