Balochistan has potential of exporting fruits worth $500mn annually

KARACHI: The province of Balochistan, endowed with a unique environment for the production of a great variety of quality fruits, alone has the potential of exporting fruits worth 500 million dollar annually. The province, with diverse climates ranging from temperate to subtropical and tropical, produces nearly one million tonnes of different variety of fruits annually i.e. 90 percent grapes, cherry, and almonds; 60 percent peach, pomegranate, and apricot; 34 percent apples, and is the fifth largest producer of dates with an estimated production volume of 583,000 tonnes. Talking to Business Recorder member export, CEO Harvest Trading, Ahmad Jawad said that Balochistan had tremendous potential for developing fruit farms. Serious efforts should be made towards bringing about a shift from traditional to technology-based farming. Various studies revealed that a large number of fruits were lost due to various reasons beginning from their production points till they reached the costumer, he said. Local farmers are faced with a plethora of problems from planting to marketing of their products as they lack essential facilities and infrastructure to market their products and earn profits.

Balochistan has the poorest communication and infrastructure system which results in higher post-harvest and transportation losses. Further, long distances and time involved affect the profits made by the farmer which discourages him greatly, he said. http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/59198-balochistan-has-potential-of-exporting-fruits-worth-500mn-annually-.html