egan its Kinnow export season this month, the exporters saw a huge surplus for trading. They are expecting a bumper crop because of alternate fruit bearing factor this year.The huge production (being estimated at 2.3 million tonnes) is bound to create a glut in the domestic market. It would inevitably lead to a price crash on the domestic level, hurting farmers. On the foreign front, it would build pressure on other export markets like Dubai or other Gulf states.
In the last few years, Pakistan has regularly lost and regained some export markets because it could not ensure quality of the produce. But it has hardly found new ones by improving domestic production, both in quality and variety. Amongst other issues, Pakistani Kinnow has been suffering Skin-Blemish disease over the last few decades. The disease affects looks and size of the fruit.
Many feel that is time for the Pakistani planners to realise that the country’s credibility comes even before the actual quality of consignments when it comes to export of fresh fruits. This kind of credibility comes from two sources: domestic production standards and international certifications approving those standards, which is precisely where Pakistan has suffered the most. There are no rules of production in the country and there are no international certifications. Pakistan needs an integrated pest management plan, yet it instead kept dealing with individual pests and fruits. While the importance of certification was realised and some efforts were spared for it in the past, it sadly lost momentum in the subsequent years.
Pakistan, under a foreign-funded initiative (Agri-business Support Fund, or the ASF), tried to bring some of its farms under the international certifications like GlobalGap. Hardly two to three of over two dozen originally registered farms followed up the process and renewed their certification. Others lost interest in certification as it could not bring the promised dividends.
These certificates were expected to provide a double benefit: opening up foreign markets and improving domestic production according to internationally accepted standards.
