Chitral — the potential hub of temperate fruits
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By Shamoon Sadiq
Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB) was
established in August 2002 as an autonomous body under the
ministry of commerce to vitalise the horticulture sector
including interventions at the whole value supply chain in
order to increase exports.
In
order to create substantial impact on exports of
horticulture products, it became imperative to have product
diversification, looking at other products which have the
export capacity and potential on medium- term basis.
Utilising the secondary data, it was found that there is an
ample potential for some of the temperate fruits of NWFP and
Balochistan which could be tapped but required appropriate
strategy and interventions to overcome hurdles which impede
their exports.
The short-term strategic goal was to promote those
horticulture products which had the best potential for
enhancing exports immediately which were selected on the
basis of V3 strategy (volume, variety and value). The
prominent fruits and vegetables were mango, kinno, dates,
potatoes and onions mainly grown in Punjab and Sindh.
Chitral district is the northern most part of NWFP
consisting of mountainous terrains connected with other
areas through “Lawari Pass” which is closed from December to
April to all kinds of road transportation due to heavy
snowfall. The cultivated land is mostly on slopes and
valleys scattered in distant areas linked with poor road
infrastructure. Farmers have limited farm holdings and hence
reliance on food such as cereals and fodder crops for animal
remains high.
The primary crops grown in this region are maize, wheat,
rice and potato. There are few commercial orchards but most
of fruits are grown in homes. The major fruits grown in this
area are apple, pear, apricot, walnut, mulberry, pomegranate
and persimmon. By and large, the crops are grown mostly for
self-consumption and on commercial scale mainly for local
market. Their pear variety ‘shagore” has good potential for
export.
The benefit of Chitral district is that it has an ecological
niche for some agriculture products that have high value in
down country markets. Secondly, the products are grown when
not grown in the down country, in other words we can say
“off-season” production which fetches high prices in the
local market. Due to minimal or no use of synthetic
chemicals, the area can be exploited for organic niche
market.
Various government and donor aided programmes have been
undertaken for the development of fruits and vegetables in
the region. Much of the impact has come through the donor
assisted programmes which has changed the agricultural
landscape of Chitral district. Besides pre-harvest
interventions, massive infrastructure projects have been
undertaken such as provision of water courses and
electricity through micro hydel power to almost all
villages. Many programmes undertaken in the adjoining areas
of Chitral had provided rippling effect to this region also;
projects such as Kalam Integrated Development Project,
Malakand Fruit & Vegetable Development Project, Dir District
Development Project and Dir Area Support Project.
But the major intervention has been provided by Agha Khan
Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) during a period of six years
from 1999 to 2004 sponsored by SDC-IC and implemented by
AKRSP. The main components of their programme included fruit
nursery promotion for supply of quality/disease free plants,
establishment of model orchards on scientific lines,
introduction of IPM, provision of new plant varieties and
establishment of farmers field school (FFS).
According to the local stakeholders, the government support
has had minimal impact. While agriculture department has its
presence in the area by providing expertise and established
R&D institutes and stations, it could not provide the level
of support as per the expectations of the farmers/growers.
Irrespective of all kinds of donors and government
interventions, there are still crop production limitations
mainly due to the following reasons: Poor land utilisation
for plantation not commercially orientated plantation – low
yields; lack of knowledge regarding pollinators, use of
proper root-stock & scion plants affected by diseases and no
integrated approach such as IPM ; no idea of soil analysis
for utilization of proper and balanced fertiliser ;
Non-availability and lack of knowledge with regard to the
use of improved seed varieties and lack of storage
infrastructure.
In order to achieve the targets of $500 million set for
2012, PHDEB cannot confine to a few products such as mango,
kinno and dates. There is a need for product diversification
incorporating other potential fruits and vegetables. Some of
the temperate fruits of this area which have export
potential and are likely to fetch premium prices are
oranges, pears and apples.
It is suggested that in order to have a sustainable
programme there is a need to establish a task force based in
Peshawar having representatives from different districts of
NWFP including Chitral, Dir & Swat. The force should meet on
regular basis and have the following mandate: to develop
overall and area/product specific strategies/action plans;
to utilise PHDEB’s local human resource for planning and
implementation of projects and programmes; to coordinate
with provincial government for necessary support; to work in
close collaboration with existing development institutions
both public and private sectors; to solicit financial
support from donors and other institutions to implement
projects.
A two pronged strategy should be undertaken i.e. short and
long term strategy. The short- term strategy will focus on
support to marketing efforts for existing fruits which has
potential for exports such as apples, pear, persimmon and
apricot from Chitral; oranges from Dir and other areas of
NWFP; apples, peach and loquat from Swat, etc.
The first step would be to create linkages between farmers
and exporters. This would require training of farmers in
quality production, timely harvesting, and standardised
packaging (normally provided by the exporter/buyer). If
needed, PHDEB would support in marketing overseas by
organising test marketing in potential overseas markets.
The long- term strategy will focus on ‘grow for export’
approach and will entail the following:
• reorient production according to export market
requirements and encourage contract growing which includes
new varieties, nurseries, model farms, adoption of GAP, etc.
• develop necessary infrastructure such as cold storages,
pack houses (grading plants), value addition industry, etc;
and also complete the Batkhela Collection Point project.
• improve support services efficiency which would include
better logistics, storage, packaging, etc through private
sector initiatives.
• institute regular training programmes for all the
stakeholders especially farmers regarding GAP using FFS
mode.
The writer is the CEO, PHDEB.
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Courtesy: The DAWN
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