In the letter addressed to the chief minister, the association requested taking concrete measures to save kinnow industry from complete disaster.
Pakistani kinnow, a well-known fruit in the international markets, is confronted with serious infestation threat of canker and blemish issues and is struggling hard for its survival, the letter said.
If immediate steps were not taken to promptly address the infestation issues, the kinnow industry may completely collapse depriving the country of valuable foreign exchange and making a million people jobless, added the letter.
The export of kinnow fetches $150 million annually which plays a vital role in sustaining the country’s agricultural economy. The industry is the bread and butter of one million people directly or indirectly associated with this sector. Taking into account the number of family members, this number may run in multi millions.
Since Punjab is the heartland of kinnow production, industry officials believe the role of provincial government will be crucial to counter the recent rise of infestation.
Pakistan can explore new markets to enhance kinnow exports but non-availability of new varieties (including seedless kinnow), limited shelf life, low quality, blemish issue, infestation and diseases can only be addressed through research and development (R&D). Without this, Pakistan cannot achieve the target of enhancing kinnow exports to an impressive figure of $1 billion in four years’ time, the letter added.
“We strongly feel that it is high time the Punjab government took care of its kinnow industry before it gets late.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Sir Shabaz Sharif! This is your Moment of Truth! Can you Prove your Metal?