The Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB), under the cool chain system, will establish 23 cold storage and controlled atmosphere storage in fruit production areas, airports and seaports.
An official in PHDEB said here on Monday that two reefer yards at Lahore and Karachi, each having a capacity of 250 containers and six testing laboratories would also form part of the cool chain system.
The project envisages establishment of 39 export pack houses equipped with grading, washing, waxing, drying, hot water treatment, packing and storage facilities of different capacities at 31 locations in various parts of the country for major horticultural commodities, he said.
He said that implementation of the cool chain system project would improve the post-harvest condition and help reduce losses, increase production and the shelf life.
According to an estimate, the horticulture sector contributes about 12 percent to Pakistan's agriculture GDP and has great potential for increasing production and export of premium quality horticultural products besides offering multiple employment opportunities throughout the supply chain, particularly in the rural areas.
Approximately 12 percent of the 13.67 million tons annual production of fruits and vegetables in the country is lost due to primitive and poor techniques of handling between farms and the end-consumers, he observed.
Quality of fresh produce would greatly contribute not only to stabilising the prices in the domestic market but also in substantially boosting exports to highly lucrative and competitive international markets, he added.