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| Wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Mazari Sharif |
Last week I showed you one of the wholesale markets in Mazari Sharif. It was focused on potatoes and onions for the most part. This week I wanted to show you some pictures of the wholesale vegetable and fruit market and the retail markets that get their fresh fruits and vegetables nearly daily from the wholesale markets.
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| Zarang (motorcycles converted with a small truck bed) drivers getting ready to haul produce to retail markets as soon as they are hired by the owner of a market to do so. |
There are basically two wholesale markets in Mazari Sharif. The local farmers usually dont bring in their farm fresh fruits and vegetables to the wholesale market. This is usually handled by some sort of “middle man” who has transportation and travels among the farmers buying product and delivering it to the market. Other times larger trucks drive in from Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan with products from wholealers there. So there is a wide selection of products ranging from bananas and citrus from Pakistan or the semitropical areas of Afghanistan like Jalalabad.
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| Taxis are sometimes used to haul fruits and vegetables to local retail shops for sale. |
Balkh Province where Mazari Sharif, the capital, is located is at best subtropical in parts but more temperate with a climate similar to Las Vegas but with a bit more humidity at times. Right now apricots are coming in as well as early onions, radishes, leafy greens, and numerous other spring crops.