Bananas being imported from India

Sindh’s banana production has declined due to floods in 2011.

RAWALPINDI: Fruit and Vegetable Market President Ghulam Qadir Mir has said that due to a reduction in production of bananas in Sindh due to cold weather and floods in the province over the past two years, the country is currently importing the fruit from India and Dubai.

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2011-12, banana production fell from 139,000 tonnes in 2010-11 to 99,000 tonnes in 2011-12.

Indian bananas were initially imported to cater demand in Punjab; however they are now also being supplied to Sindh, which produces most of the country’s banana crop. When the Indian bananas were introduced in markets across Islamabad a few weeks ago, they sold for as much as Rs300 a dozen. With supplies improving, the price has now fallen to Rs180 to Rs200 a dozen. Pakistani bananas sell for about Rs70 to Rs80 a dozen.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2012.