Balochistan produces 2,25,000 tonnes dates

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan has produced around 225,000 tonnes of dates in last season from an area of 42.3 thousand hectares as the province has huge potential of delicious and unique export quality dates. With the addition of Dates production from Balochistan, the country has become the top Dates exporter to Japan in the year 2020, the Balochistan Board of Investment and Trade (BBoIT) sources said.

“The Panjgur and Turbat districts of Makran division are producing 53 percent of the country’s dates in a year where the Date harvest is spreading over an area of about 42,300 hectares,” it added.

It is also one of the main crops for 70 percent of the population of the area,” said Agricultural Researcher Abdul Hanan in an exclusive talk with APP.

The government of Balochistan has taking initiatives to encourage farmers for cultivating dates as the region has potential to produce the best varieties of dates including Mozawti, Begam Jangi and others, he added.

Hanan said, in dates’ varieties, Mozawti was indigenous specie and most of its production had been carried out in Panjgur district.

“Mozawti has best taste and quality whereas due to its lustrous appearance, rich nutritional benefits have high demand among national and international consumers,” he told.

Since, the provincial government was promoting less water intensive plants species due to prevailing drought season like olives and pistachio. It would also facilitate the farmers to plants more dates trees this year in Balochistan, he added.

The provincial government was also ensuring the availability of cold storage near main production areas to facilitate the local farmers.

Food processing plants were being established across the province to preserve the agriculture production. He said that the construction works of Date Processing Plant at Turbat was near completion and the remaining work of the project would be completed soon.

He said the government had initiated various roads development projects in the province to connect field through markets and to provide easy access to the farmers. The most important factors to increase the revenue, the government had built vegetable’s markets across the province, the source said. He added that the government had working to convert the tub-wells on solar energy.