Director Harvest Tradings Ahmad Jawad said that Pakistani agriculture products are the best in the world, yet the sector has not excelled to its true potential.
He said the focus of untrained people in the horticulture field had been on increasing production rather than on improving the quality of the product.
Talking to Upper Reach GM, Ms Paulina Gallardo, he said Pakistan enjoyed its place as the fifth largest producer of mangoes, fourth largest producer of dates and 13th largest producer of citrus and 10th largest in apples, but the lack of post-harvest and cold chain infrastructure was seriously hampering Pakistan’s horticulture export potential.
As every year, 2.2 million tons of vegetables and 2.8-3 million tons of fruits go waste during and after harvest. This is a big loss roughly 30 per cent of Pakistan’s total vegetable production and about 40 per cent of fruits are being wasted.
However quality-conscious foreign buyers want every exporting country to align their supply chains as per international standards in order to expand its share in the international market, but unfortunately, lack of awareness among Pakistani exporters regarding global food safety standards, cohesive supply chains, and marketing systems are to blame for keeping the volume of the country’s produce export low.
Jawad said the reality was clear: horticulture exports could only be boosted if they could develop an integrated quality system. “If the emerging problem is not resolved on priority basis, country exports may not move as fast, largely because of international sensitivity to quality issues,” added Jawad.
There is, therefore, a need for public-private initiatives to invest in technologies to enhance the shelf life of the produce and boost export prices. Educational training needs to be given to the producers to ensure that fruit quality is improved and post-harvest handling is perfected.
He also urged the government and foreign institutions need to lend financial support to Pakistan’s horticulture sector, since it has been striving for the last couple of years.
