Government inaction irks mango exporters

The Farmers Associates of Pakistan (FAP) has blamed the Federal government for not extending help to mango exporters to capture the European market. Director FAP Choudhry Hamid Malhi told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that mango farmers were in great distress due to lack of decision-making by the Plant Protection Department(PPD) of the Federal Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
The situation needs immediate decision at the provincial and federal govt level. The Provincial Minister for Agriculture Government of Punjab has shown keen interest but to no avail as the Plant Protection Department of the Ministry of Food Security and Research is proving to be the biggest hurdle in this case.
"It is promoting monopoly of the Karachi-based Hot Water Treatment Plant (HWP) and does not wish to work in the field with the mango farmer to facilitate exports". The facility of Hot Water Treatment presently in operation at Karachi only is insufficient to cater for all mango exports, especially of those from Punjab. Malhi said the D G Department of Plant Protection seems reluctant in allowing individual farms which have this facility at their farms to export mangoes to EU.
The facility at the farmer's level has been established with the help of FIRMS, a US funded project and has also been recommended by them. The federal and provincial governments are on the one hand committed to promote public-private partnership to enhance business activities in the private sector while on the other hand its own institutions are working against these initiatives, even when no public spending is involved.
He said, "FAP fully supports mango farmers who invested heavily in these initiatives over the last 3 years to manage the marketing of their hard earned harvests of mango". FAP requested the Prime Minister and the CM Punjab to intervene in the matter and allow these farms to export mangoes. This effort would greatly assist in breaking the monopoly of the vested interests and expand the possibilities of increased exports of agriculture produce, he added.