Kinnow output may drop by 30 percent

There is likely to be a drop of 30 per cent in kinnow production this season. The total yield is estimated to slide down to 1.50 million tons as compared to 2.02 million tons last year, according to surveys recently conducted by Punjab provincial crop reporting departments and Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Board (PHDEB).
The total production in Punjab may drop to around 1.50 million tons for the year 2006-2007. In Sargodha division alone, total production last year was 1.24 million tons and a 30% drop means that the anticipated production would be around 0.9 million tons in the area.
Last year, the export target was 200,000 tons, whereas total production stood at 2.2 million tons. This year the total production is expected to be around 1.5 million tons. Explaining the variations in yield, a PHDEB official said that it had become an important factor in achieving a uniform pace of export.
The variation in yield is a result of combination of genetic make-up (rootstock), environmental stresses (winds and rains at flowering stage) and poor orchard management practices (irrigation, low soil fertility, imbalance use of fertiliser, low soil organic matter content).
Adequate management of kinnow orchards, growers' interest and facilitation by provincial agricultural departments can curtail the low yield (alternate bearing) problem. The blemishes on the rind is another potential disorder which needs to be controlled by using wind breaks, efficient control of mites and pruning or thinning practices.
In order to contain the problem, the PHDEB is carrying out the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) programme in some kinnow orchards, aimed at improving pre-production practices and post-harvest quality, safety and traceability of the fruit.
The programme has been planned to be implemented through the EurapGap certification of orchards, which improves basic production practices and facilitates regularity in production. Quoting Indian farmers who toured Punjab recently, PHDEB said that mango and citrus fruit produced here were in high demand in India.
Pakistani farmers could learn from the Indian experience and also increase their production by using modern technologies. But Pakistan was currently performing better in horticulture and could take advantage of a huge market next door. India could become a healthy market for Pakistani mango and kinnow as both the fruits are of high quality and taste.
Though India itself produces both the fruits, they were inferior in quality and flavour. That is what could provide Pakistan a niche there and India could become a major market for its horticulture exports, the Indian farmers believe.