Pakistan losing kinnow market in EU: Jawad

Chief Executive Officer Harvest Tradings, Ahmad Jawad has urged Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIE) to speed up the process of Industrial estate at
Tehsil Bhalwal which will be compromising on 400 acres.
Talking to kinnow growers at Sargodha, he said after completion this project will make a strong push for the export of kinnow process as Bhalwal is known as the hub of kinnows, supplying over half of the country’s kinnow exports.
However it was a matter of great concerns that Pakistan which is 13th largest kinnow producing country in the
world, annually produces 2 million tons yield has minimum in the ranking to export of this fruit.
As Pakistan needs to get seedless variety on a large scale to cater the needs for EU markets as with the introduction of seedless variety, kinnow exports are expected to grow to $1 billion extra.
Currently, the world citrus markets value is $2.135 billion, in which, country share has remained around 2.5 per cent Jawad said Pakistan is losing the kinnow market in the European Union due to excessive seeds, as buyer seeks seed-free fruit for easy eating,” still we are looking forward to have max 3 to 5 seeds in each fruit. However research revealed that Europeans consider massive seeds to cause stomach disorder as every seed of kinnow has a specific chemical material that sometimes disturbs the stomach”. Despite the fact Pakistan is the best kinnow producing country but suffers from a lack of value addition and support from the government. “Neither the government nor the fruit association (PFVA) have taken measures to educate the farmers about the latest techniques for producing fruits,” He added that Pakistani growers should learn from their Turkish counterparts who captured the EU market well because of the lack of seeds. “Presently Pakistan has a yield of 8,000 kilogram per acre of land while it is 16,000 to 20,000 kg per acre as per world standards,” Jawad added.