The Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) has launched 'Improvement of value chains and tradability of farmer's produce' project to help in capacity-building of farmers, processors and traders to meet food quality standards demanded by consumers in the domestic and international markets. Costing about Rs 19.3 million, the project has been launched in collaboration with 'Star Farms', China.
It is an integrated program for value and chain development of agricultural commodities. It will also boost economy by reducing post-harvest losses, improvement in food processing and preservation, enhancing food quality, and improving tradability in the domestic and international markets. Master Trainers have been selected and they have arrived from China. Twelve products have been identified pertaining to 4 commodities--fruits, vegetables, cereals, and meat. Maryam Naseer, Research Publication Officer, PARB, said that benchmarking of data of selected products in terms of micro-climatic, socio-economic and infrastructure of the core production areas of the 12 selected products is under process.