Agribusiness Fund to promote good agricultural practices

Sets up platform that will cooperate with Global GAP Secretariat.


Our Correspondent April 04, 2012

LAHORE: The Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF), under United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) agribusiness project, has established a value chain platform called the National Technical Working Group to promote Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in production of fruits and vegetables in Pakistan.

The group will work in close cooperation with the Global GAP Secretariat and committees and will support as well as facilitate implementation of good agricultural practices, says ASF in a press release. ASF intends to launch 20 such value chain platforms.

The platform, the direct link for the Global GAP Secretariat, will be used to harmonise certification and scope of activities within the region.

The technical working group includes stakeholders representing certification bodies, growers, processors, exporters, government agencies, researchers and academia.

ASF, the only Pakistani company registered as Global GAP member and the approved host of National Technical Working Group Pakistan, organised the body’s first meeting at its office in Lahore.

In the meeting, the group members unanimously elected Saeed Bhombal as chairman of the body. In a major step to facilitate the stakeholders, the members agreed to translate GAP standards into Urdu and also formulate interpretation guidelines for submission to the Global GAP Secretariat.

ASF, which started introducing good agricultural practices five years ago, has extended financial and technical support to growers and exporters of citrus and mango for acquiring GAP certification. It has also launched a master training programme in collaboration with Global GAP Germany, aimed at developing expertise in implementation of protocols.

These steps were instrumental in recognition of Pakistani produce in European markets, leading to a substantial rise in exports to the EU.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2012.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ