The vision of Punjab government is to transform horticulture into a vibrant, market driven and export based sector for which effective policy measures are being introduced to achieve the goal. This was said by Arif Nadeem, Secretary Agriculture Punjab while chairing a meeting about mango production and export at Agriculture House here on Friday.
The Secretary Agriculture said Punjab is contributing 80 percent of total agricultural produce and Horticulture Sector in the province is also growing positively to meet the contemporary demands. He said Agriculture Department is aggressively moving ahead to increase contribution of Horticulture Sector in GDP from 7 percent to 15 percent for which emphasis is being made from germ plasm to certified nursery plants.
He said effective measures are being taken for production of quality mangoes and improving its export through vertical and horizontal integration supported by developing necessary infrastructure, awareness and capacity building. There is a huge emphasis of provincial and Federal Governments to produce quality fruits for domestic market as well as enhancing exports, particularly for mango and citrus fruits, he added.
Marc Gilker and David Picha expressed the views that there is lot of scope for Pakistani mangoes in abroad including USA, which can be targeted by adopting the required protocol. It was agreed to benefit from expertise and experience of USA scientists/consultants to target the market in USA for mango export.
Tahir Khurshid, Special Secretary (Agri Marketing) Punjab told that mango growers have been aligned for enhancing export by integration of the supply chain keeping in view the last year's experience. The meeting was informed that mango export to Germany was managed from Pakistan by sea last year by enhancing its shelf life up to 45 days. A number of clusters have been formed for practising agronomy and post harvest measures for mango export, learning from the last year experience which will mark increase in mango export.
The meeting was attended by Tahir Khurshid, Special Secretary (Agri. Marketing) Punjab, Marc Gilker, representative of USDA, David Picha, Horticultural Consultant (USA), Dr Mubarak Ali, Chief Executive Punjab Agricultural Research Board. Dr Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Ext & A.R) Dr Ijaz Pervaiz, Director General Agriculture (Pest Warning) Punjab, representatives of Punjab Agricultural Marketing Company (PAMCO), Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board (PHDEB) and mango growers.
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