Punjab vows to promote horticulture sector

The Punjab government has assured full support and assistance for the forthcoming National Horticulture Conference being organised in collaboration with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and All Pakistan fruit and vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) for the development of Horticulture sector.
Having concluded consultative meetings with the concerned stakeholders of Punjab, FPCCI vice president & Patron-in-Chief -PFVA Waheed Ahmed had meetings with Governor Punjab, Provincial Minister of commerce, Industry & investment & Secretary Agriculture (Punjab) to brief them about preparation of road map for development of the Horticulture sector.
The PFVA chairman Aslam Pakhali and regional head of Research based International Agriculture organization CABI Babar Bajwa were part of these meetings held during March 27-29 led by Waheed Ahmed. Major issues of the sector related to the country in general and province of Punjab in particular were highlighted during these meetings.
"Among the Agri- products exports of $571 million, the share of Punjab is more than 50 percent which is $325 million and by resolving issues of this specific sector and adopting modern trends in this sector, the current export revenue can easily be enhanced to one billion dollar within a short span of five years", Waheed Ahmed assured.
FPCCI vice president while apprising aims and objectives of the national horticulture conference, also spelled out serious issues of the sector during these meetings. He pointed out that lack of awareness of latest trends and practices in the sector, acute shortage of water; ill-effects of Global warming, non-availability of desired infra-structure and high cost of production were main issues of the sector.
He said the growers are unfamiliar with demands and trends of international markets and similarly low yield per acre is posing a serious problem to this Industry. "This sector has tremendous potential and the objective of holding National Horticulture conference is to tap immense opportunities by developing short, medium and long term policies to encounter these issues", Waheed elaborated.
The National Horticulture conference is tentatively plan to be held in May 2018 and would be a mile stone in the history of this sector, he disclosed. He stressed strong need for establishment of common facilities including Hot Water Treatment Plants, Processing and Packaging units, cold storages and cool chain for further uplift of this sector in Punjab. Effective utilization of Multan Airport as an opportunity to enhance export of fruits & vegetable was also stressed.
Haling vision, timely initiative and commendable efforts of Waheed Ahmed for the development of this promising sector, the Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana assured full support and assistance of Punjab government for the forthcoming National Horticulture Conference. He pledged to extend further facilities at Multan Airport to ensure, it plays a vital role for further enhancement of export of fruits and vegetables.
The Punjab Minister of Commerce, Industry & Investment Sheikh Allauddin also admired vision and concerted efforts of PFVA and acknowledged that the forthcoming National Horticulture Conference in backdrop of challenges, the sector is confronted is timely initiative and need of hour.
The years to follow would witness acute shortage of water as a serious threat to the Agriculture sector in Punjab where level of water has drastically lowered and as result of that the current water level has gone down to 900 feet from previous level of 45 feet and thus prompt actions on war footings are required to be initiated, the Minister warned.
The secretary Agriculture Punjab Muhammad Mehmood shared that with exclusive allocation of fund of Rs 3.2 billion for development of the Horticulture sector; special projects have already been launched with emphasis on three major components of the project, namely-Market development, grants and International Certificate. To inculcate awareness about current trend in the international market the secretary assured to organize training and seminars in consultation with PFVA for growers backbone if the sector.