Addressing the “Fruit and Vegetable Promotion Conference” in Karachi on Friday, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that the dream of boosting exports of fruits and vegetables has been materialised thanks to the introduction of new technologies by the agriculture scientists.
“I am proud of the agriculture scientists, whose untiring efforts in research helped boost the exports of fruits, especially mango and vegetables from the country,” the minister said, adding that country’s mango was facing severe problems of fruit-fly disease, resulting in rejection of several consignments and consequently defaming the country besides inflicting huge financial losses to the national exchequer.
However, scientists of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) PARC in collaboration with All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association managed to control the disease by introducing hot water treatment technology which resulted in export enhancement. He said that due to these efforts, the country has now become able to export mango and several other fruits and vegetables, opening up new avenues for country exports in the markets of USA, European Union, Japan and other countries.
The conference was organised by the DPP PARC in collaboration with All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association with an aim to promote agriculture production and exports.
Speaking on the occasion, Ministry of National Food Security and Research Secretary Seerat Asghar said that the ministry was taking all best possible measures to promote research and development in the agriculture sector.
PARC Chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmad said that research and development were the imperative features to help ensure promising agriculture sector to not only cater to the food requirements of the country but also help promote agriculture produce export to earn foreign exchange.
“The agriculture is directly linked to the overall economy of the country, so if we manage to development agriculture on sustainable grounds, it would definitely uplift the growth of economy,” he said, adding that agriculture produce could help enhance overall exports of the country, provided a proper attention is given towards development of new technologies and promotion of value addition.
VHP Vapour Heat Treatment (to eliminate fruit-fly) should have been employed by Fruit and Vegetable Exporters beforehand.The Minister is talking about it after the damage has been done. It simply shows his incompetence to hold such a responsible position in the government. A competent minister would employ a "Task Force" for all aspects of marketing, post-harvest management, marketing practices, quality standards, grading, packaging, transportation, storage,SPS requirements, marketing problems and marketing info
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