A new concept of 'cluster development' will be introduced to increase horticulture sector's competitiveness in international market. This would also help overcome horticulture sector's inherent structural problems, ie surplus based exports, inconsistent quality and supplies and non-compliance of the emerging food quality and safety issues, that hampers its growth.
In order to meet these requirements, the Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Board (PHDEB) has joined hands with the Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project (ADDP), the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) and the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) for the new integrated approach of cluster development.
The move offers a great promise by touching all weak areas of the sector in a comprehensive manner. It is aimed at developing production management, commonly known as the 'Good Agricultural Practices' (GAP).
For quality control, known as 'Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification', the approach provides a chance to develop post-harvest management practices, including pack-houses, storage, packaging and value-addition. Marketing and capacity building are other two main features of the new approach.
According to PHDEB's latest newsletter 'Hortimag,', with the international market becoming increasingly competitive under globalisation, importers demand quality produce at competitive prices, and consistent supply. Similar situation is emerging in the domestic market with multinational chains like 'Metro' and 'Makro' establishing their outlets in Pakistan.
It is, therefore, imperative that horticulture production and post-harvest management systems should be revamped to meet the new challenges. The need is to move from supply-driven to market-driven ('grow for export') production and post-harvest management which warrant a holistic approach for total supply chain management in an integrated manner.
Keeping in view the widespread production areas, the PHDEB-ADDP-ASF-CSF combine considers it appropriate to follow a cluster development approach to create models for subsequent replication. Kinno, though still not fully representative of an integrated efficient supply-chain management system, can still be cited as an example.
Potential five horticulture commodities include citrus, mango, dates, potato and onion, which contribute a major share in national production of fruits (7.1 million tons) and vegetable (6.9 million tons) and exports ($169 million).
In addition, there are other potential commodities, ie, apple, peach, grape, banana, chillies, off-season vegetables and floriculture, that are being produced in abundance and would be emerging commodities for expanding export base.
The agro-ecological diversity enables production of these crops in different parts of the country during different times of the year. However, some of them are quite area-specific, like grapes, whereas others are concentrated in certain areas. The provincial break-up of horticulture production could be taken as: Punjab - citrus fruit, mango and potato. Sindh - mango, date, banana, onion and chillies. NWFP - apple, peach and off-season vegetables, and Balochistan - apple, grapes, date and onion. In addition settled provincial areas, there are certain regions and administrative areas, ie, FANA, FATA and AJK, that offer prospects for high-value crops.
The new approach will identify focal points that represent main production pockets within the selected districts and map farms, areas and production. It will also organise farmers' groups (clusters) to be ultimately formalised into co-operatives or associations (PIOs) and identify constraints and opportunities in consultation in consultation with beneficiaries.
It will evaluate the existing resources, develop consensus solutions by taking on board all stakeholder and develop and implement action plans in consultation with the PIOs, the ASF, the PHDEB, the CSF service providers and beneficiaries. It would also keep on reviewing and replicating success stories.
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