Boosting citrus exports

According to a Recorder Report at a recent meeting with citrus growers, processors and exporters, the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) gave an overview of the horticulture policy and the measures adopted to improve the marketing and export of the kinnow.
He recalled that import duties on all agribusiness machinery, including second hand refrigerators and containers, have been withdrawn, besides the establishment of export zone of citrus in Sargodha district. All the three stakeholders, sharing fears of a fall in the coming citrus crop, because of frost bite and other adverse factors, urged the minister to grant them certain concessions, particularly in freight, to help them remain in the markets they had captured last year. Failing which, they contended they might find themselves in a predicament.
As such, they are reported to have urged for a comprehensive strategy to boost the production and export of citrus. It will be noted that citrus fruits comprise orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit and pomelo, to which family Pakistani kinnow, which has its own appeal, also belongs. They said that the ministry should also facilitate the exporters to explore new markets, particularly in Central Asian States. The meeting was informed that a project, Agribusiness Development and Diversification, costing Rs 4.2 billion, has been already launched to reduce post-harvest losses, improve marketing and infrastructure, including refrigerator and cold storage.
Evidently, sympathising with the minister is reported assured citrus growers that their concerns would be duly taken care of on priority basis. More to this, the minister constituted a task force to evolve a concrete action plan for kinnow research, production, transfer of technology, marketing and export. On their part, the exporters and processors are reported to have agreed that these measures, together with a conducive policy of the government, could certainly, help enhance the export of kinnow in the years to come. But this cannot solve the problem wholly. All has not been well with the country's kinnow's export in recent years.
This, among other things, has reference to a number of hurdles in transportation to the buying countries, including complaints of faulty packaging. In fact about 30 percent of total horticulture products goes to waste every year for various reasons, and there is a vast scope for the industrial sector to come into this field and utilise the surplus of horticulture products for increasing exports.
The Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB), Shamoon Sadiq, a few months back had disclosed that Pakistan was exporting less than 10 percent of its total horticulture produce because of waste every year and non utilisation of the bulk of output by the food processing industries. This huge wastage he attributed this mainly to poor farm management, non-availability of packaging and neglect of post-harvest care, lacking of cold storage and other infrastructure facilities.
On the same occasion he had also stated that world horticulture market was worth $79 billion, noting that during the year 2003-04, Pakistan exported only a small part of its tremendous potential. According to him, the agro-ecological diversity, geographical location, abundant local raw material, growing domestic market, product distinction, available skilled labour force, and increasing international demand were the main strength of Pakistan.
All this will point to the need of putting together all requirements, including cool chain system, export houses, packaging technology, hybrid seed, plasticulture, corporate and co-operative farming. In so far as initiatives taken by the PHDEB, it has been trying to arrange joint ventures with international companies for processing industry. This needs to be vigorously pursued to boost exports of all sorts of horticulture products.