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Seedlessness In Fruits And Wto Regimes
By Miss Naseem Sharif (Research Officer)
Horticultural Research Institute, AARI Faisalabad
In
Pakistan, almost every second businessman appears to be
suffering from an unknown fear of the World Trade
Organization and expecting, anytime now or later. One reason
is obvious: lack of knowledge and awareness among the middle
class traders about the WTO, its functioning, its rules and
its key objectives. Another reason is the uncertainty that
free trade can bring in its wake; our entrepreneurs have
grown up in a protectionist atmosphere. Countries, which
would not cope with the changing environmental conditions,
may be devastated. WTO decisions are absolute and every
member must abide by its rulings. Developing countries
depend a lot on the agricultural sector for employment
generation and export earnings. They therefore, are
desperate to safeguard the interests of their farm sectors,
which are endangered by protectionist. The recent WTO deal
at Geneva whereby the rich developed countries have agreed
to eliminate export subsidies and drastically reduce
domestic subsidies given to their farm sector is being put
to varying interpretations, which will provide a level
playing field to the farm products of developing countries
in both domestic and export markets. Developing countries
like Pakistan need to concentrate on their comparative
advantages to survive in global marketing competition.
Agriculture being the
lynchpin of Pakistan’s economy needs special attention in
this regard and improvement in any area of this sector
affects the economy substantially. Seedlessness is a highly
desirable subjective quality in many fruits and vegetables,
and seedless fruit cultivars now make up the overwhelming
majority of many fruits. Seedless fruits possess no seeds,
generally to make consumption easier and more convenient.
They are therefore considered commercially valuable. Most
commercially-produced seedless fruits have been developed
from plants whose fruits normally contain numerous
relatively large hard seeds distributed throughout the flesh
of the fruit. Seedless fruits can develop in one of two
ways: either the fruit develops without any fertilization (Parthenocarpy),
or pollination triggers fruit development but the ovules or
embryos abort without producing mature seeds (stenospermocarpy).
Seedlessness is desirable in Citrus, Guava, Watermelon,
Grapes, Papaya, and in Loquat. Seeds of many fruits have
specific chemicals material which disturb stomach (customer
disliking) and seedlessness is requirement of many
processing industries as well. The Pakistan Horticulture
Development & Export Board (PHDEB) is confident that, with
the development of seedless variety, fruits, export may
touch a new highway during the coming season.
Kinnow, which is a major export item of Pakistan, has bright
prospects for future as researchers hope to soon develop a
seedless variety of the soft scented, juicy fruit. Work on
seedless variety is underway at National Institute of
Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, in collaboration
with Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission {PAEC). Every year,
Kinnow exports bring precious foreign exchange and its
promise that seedless varieties will boost up further.
Iran, Russia, Ukraine, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan and Eastern Europe are major export markets for
Pakistani Kinnow. Pakistani Kinnow was not given much
importance in European countries due to 20 to 25 seeds per
fruit, which pose problems in juice industry. There are
around 200 Kinnow processing units in the country. Most of
these have been established quite recently and are
contributing a lot in enhancing the quality of Kinnow for
export purposes. It is not only a much produced fruit but
also much consumed. In world the plants of seedless Kinnow
is produced through tissue culture and the government has
sold 110,000 million saplings to the growers so far. Almost
400-450 saplings of seedless Kinnow are being sold every day
to the growers. Seedless fruits of watermelon are produced
on triploid plants, whose three sets of chromosomes prevent
meiosis from taking place and thus do not produce fertile
gametes. Seedless watermelons are grown from seeds. Such
plants can arise by spontaneous mutation or by crossing
diploid and tetraploid lines of watermelon or by using
soft-X-irradiated pollens. Hybrid seedless Sugar Baby, a
commercial watermelon variety of Pakistan has been evolved
having 90-95 days maturity period with average fruit weight
6-7 kg. Possess strong plant growth and resistance to heat
and Very suitable for remote transportation as well.
Commercially available seedless watermelon seeds actually
contain two varieties of seeds; that of the triploid
seedless plant itself (recognizable because the seed is
larger), and the diploid plant which is needed to pollenize
the triploid. Unless both plant types are grown in the same
vicinity, no seedless fruit will result. Seedless watermelon
varieties released include; Orchid Sweet, Black Pearl, Red
Export and Sky Bell. Pakistan has diversified landscape
natural resources-filled lush green hills, where loquat
production is abundant including Tret, Chhattar, Rawalpindi,
Hasan Abdal, Wah, Hari Pur, Mardan, Kalar Kahar and Choa
Saiden Shah.
The development of the seedless loquat has been announced in
Chiba and Japan. The average weight of the seedless loquat
called Kibou is 70 grams. Some are bigger than a hen's egg
and big enough to completely fill a man's palm with a single
fruit. So, adopting these seedless varieties we can boost
hilly area income. There is a great need to characterize the
available loquat genotypes of Pakistan. The breakthrough
came in seedless tomato with the release of Sweet Seedless
and Gold Nugget varieties. These are hybrid tomatoes that
produces 8 to 10 ounce red, round, juicy tomatoes a little
bigger than baseballs. Creating a seedless tomato is a
complicated breeding process. Papaya the fruit of angles is
excellent source of vitamins and useful in much skin, heart
and inflammatory diseases. Large no of seeds are a problem
in customer liking. By focusing research its seedless
evolution, it can be a major entity for export. Grape
breeders have responded to consumer preference for seedless
grapes with the development of numerous improved varieties
including Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black
Monukka. Seedlessness is a highly desirable subjective
quality in table grape selection, and seedless cultivars now
make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings.
There are currently more than a dozen varieties of seedless
grapes. Need of time is cultivate on more broad bases to
improve trade. Increased production is the key to promoting
the export of horticultural crops. However, lack of
incentives and high-tech guidance from the extension
department hinder the process. In an attempt to keep peace
with the process of globalization under WTO regime and the
lenders’ conditionality, Pakistan has exposed its domestic
industry to harsh foreign competition. As a result, even
some of its efficient export-oriented and import
substitution industry is being adversely affected. Seedless
fruits from Pakistan could soon be heading for European
markets following a breakthrough in production in the
country, with reports suggesting the fruit could hit the
bloc by 2012. If we move professionally and meet quarantine
requirements, we can grab the market volumes as we are
already meeting the Plant Protection Organization
requirements of many UAE countries and European countries
can open their door for our imports. The need of the hour is
that we should adopt new technology to meet international
requirements. We should produce seedless fruit varieties;
adopt scientific techniques to perform various marketing
activities and to reduce post harvest losses, in order to
line with international competitive marketing systems.
Courtesy: Pakissan Team |