LAHORE: Speakers at a webinar recommended the Dates growers to adopt modern techniques of value addition while the government should provide facilities of packing materials/refrigerated trucks for transportation and cold storage to minimize post harvest losses.
The webinar was arranged by the Pakistan Horticulture Development Export Board (PHDEB). Pakistan is 5th largest date fruit producing country with 532,000 ton annual production and Pakistan has 102,000 hectares of Dates cultivated area which leaves room for value-added products of dates. Pakistan has a quite low number of Dates recipes and there is a need for introducing more value added products for household and other industries.
Dr Ahmad Din Assistant Professor from Department of Food Science and Technology University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, explained the scope and importance of value-added products of Dates and quality characters of Dates for processing.
He explained that Sindh and Balochistan contribute more than 90% to the national production of Date fruit. In the Sindh Date palm area, Khairpur district, growers have been suffering from an emerging pest for the last one to two decades, which is destroying many Date palms.
In Balochistan province, limited water resources and dependence on conserved water in the aquifers to irrigate Date palm orchards. Over ripening, rough handling and transportation, improper storage, contamination, and improper packaging can cause up to 20% of the annual production of Dates fruits, due to the lack of innovation, Pakistan is losing potential revenue. The scope of value addition and profitability is immense.
He recommended that Dates growers should adopt modern techniques of value-addition and government should provide facilities of packing materials/Refrigerated trucks for transportation and cold storage and access to market to minimize post-harvest losses. He recommended future prospects of Dates industry.
Date crop is one of main sources of income for the people of rural areas so the production of this crop may be converted into an industry. Arrangement of field days, seminars, lectures on pest management and demonstration of improved production technologies will improve overall condition of date crop of Pakistan.
Ch Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad Jatt, Vice President Potato Growers Co-operative Society, extended his thanks for conducting series of webinars on value-added products of major horticulture products. He further added these types of activities defiantly boost the horticulture industry of Pakistan, which results in exportable quality products with high yield.
He suggests that separate budget should be allocated of value addition products, in response Khawar Nadeem, Manager Agri-Products PHDEC, explained the audiences about the EDF funds which are available for them. He further guided them to draft a project and share with the EDF for onward awarding of funds.
Khawar Nadeem informed the participants about PHDEC’s upcoming activities besides capacity building workshops, webinars. PHDEC has started working on a project to import of elite Dates and its propagation/multiplication in Pakistan. In response to a question on certifications, he mentioned that PHDEC is also assisting on food safety certifications like GlobalGAP, HACCP, ISO etc.
He welcomed the stakeholders to contact PHDEC in case if anybody needs a support or assistance. In the end, he explained the purpose of conducting webinars on “Value-added Products” for major horticultural products and possible intervention in value-addition related projects from PHDEC. He extended PHDEC full support to the stakeholders in any product and export related matters.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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