The agro ecological resources enable Pakistan to produce over 13 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually and help horticultural exports touch an encouraging figure of $142 million.
To make the coming mango season more meaningful, a seminar on 'Mango supply chain management' was organised on February 24 by Agribusiness Development & Diversification Project, Implementation Office, Sindh, in collaboration with Agriculture Research Institute, Tando Jam.
Pakistan is the fifth largest producer and third largest exporter of mango in the world. According to Mahmood Nawaz Shah, Chairman, Sindh Abadgar Board, Pakistan's soil and climatic conditions enable production and market supplies of good quality fresh mango over a period of seven months. Pakistan's mango, therefore, enjoys a prominent position in the international market. Gulf and Saudi Arabia are the traditional markets and consume major volume. England is the main market in Europe, and Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are the other important markets. China is likely to emerge an important market in near future.
The exports of mango from Pakistan are constantly rising. Last year's exports rose to 60,000 tonnes. The mango harvest season and exports start in April and continue up to October. Mid-May to mid-August is, however, the peak supply period.
There are quite a few mango varieties, produced in Pakistan, which are appreciated in the international markets owing to their attractive colour, fragrance and savouring of vitamins B and C and small amount of protein and minerals, like calcium and phosphorus.
Muhammad Ali Malkani, Minister of State for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, who was chief guest at the seminar, said that the present effort would help in developing the National Agribusiness Policy, besides horticulture policy for the province of Sindh.
Pakistan, he said, is basically an agriculture country where agriculture plays a crucial role in its economy. It contributes about 25 percent to the country's GDP and provides not only food to the fast growing population but also meets the demand of raw material to industries. Besides being the main source of foreign exchange earnings, about 70 percent of the rural population directly or indirectly depends on agriculture. He regretted that though industrial and services sectors are increasing their share, agriculture has not yet shown signs of increasing its share.
Within agriculture, horticulture sub-sector offers maximum growth potential and opportunities, which needs to be exploited. Malkani said that Pakistan's agro ecological resources are enabling her to produce over 13 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually. With horticultural exports being over $142 million, kinnow exports recorded 200,000 tonnes last season.
Horticulture sector has many limitations, he said, and added that about one-third of fresh produce is never consumed by end-users mainly due to high post-harvest losses. Likewise, per hectare yield and export prices of fresh produce in international markets are much lower than many of the other growing and exporting countries. This situation has led to unstable production and marketing conditions.
The present government has taken various steps for the uplift of agriculture sector, including agribusiness, and for the first time has identified and declared horticulture, along with dairy sector, as priority area owing to the unexploited inherent potential and future prospects, he said.
Developing a realistic National Agribusiness Policy is the step in the right direction to moving forward towards making the agriculture sector prosperous and competitive. The National Agribusiness Policy Development process has been designed in a way involving all stakeholders and key players and is being undertaken simultaneously in all the four provinces along with FATA, FANA and AJK which would help in devising a synchronised national agribusiness policy.
All aspects, including production post-harvest, marketing and exports of horticulture products were discussed threadbare in the seminar. The participants identified core issues in horticulture sector and submitted their recommendations, which would be considered by the policy makers.
Prominent among those who attended the seminar were Qamar Zaman Shah, President, Chamber of Sindh Agriculture, Abdul Majid Nizamani, Imdad Ali Nizamani, Hashim Leghari, Secretary, Planning & Development Department, Mahkumuddin Qadri, Secretary, Agriculture, and Dr Baz Muhammad Junejo, Secretary, Auqaf Department.
Project Director Arshad H Hashmi said that it was the prime obligation to develop an appropriate policy and enabling environment for the private sector-led agribusiness development. The policy will emphasise promoting greater private sector participation and rationalisation of government programmes and initiatives and establishing crop-specific development priorities based on resource audits and comparative and competitive advantage analysis.
Under the project 25,000 farmers, public sector officials and private sector representatives would be trained. They would be provided all possible help regarding agribusiness and increase agrarian production in the country.