Time to promote Balochistan's dates, apples export to GCC, world.

Byline: Syed Fazl-E-Haider

Pakistan, the sixth largest producer of dates is the third major exporter of dates in the world. According to an estimate, the country annually produces around 600,000 tonnes of dates out of which only 100,000 tonnes are exported and the rest are either consumed locally or perish. Moreover, the season for different varieties of apple in Pakistan starts from the first week of July and ends in mid of November every year. The most famous apples produced in Pakistan are kala kulu, mashadi, amri, golden delicious, katja, red delicious, royal gala, Kashmiri, skyspur and summer red etc.

Balochistan contributes 34% national production of apple and 70% of dates. Nature has bestowed the province with so many natural resources and its favorable climate and various plateau of land further enhanced its importance by producing dates, cherries, apricot, pomegranate, grapes and apples. The strategically located province offers access to new resources and markets and the prospect of more rapid growth.

The province's geo-strategic location makes it the most attractive for transit traffic to the landlocked Central Asian Republics (CARs). Gwadar port would provide Afghanistan and the CARs the shortest and fastest access to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. The port can also provide them with warehousing facilities along with transit and possibilities of import of goods. The province offers the investors lucrative opportunities to invest in fruit farms.

Fruit crops are grown in the northern parts of the province. Its huge yield potential of high quality deciduous fruits can efficiently be tapped by making investments in establishing 'crop specific zone' and 'fruit processing units' in the province.

The key problems baring long-term investment in fruit production include shortage of irrigation water, non-availability of groundwater in highland, lack of marketing infrastructure and facilities like farm to market roads and sale centers, dearth of skilled labor and lack of technical knowledge and expertise. Investments can be made in building cold storage houses and air-conditioned transportation facilities to minimize the risks to spoilage of fruits.

The dates exports could be raised to $200 million from the current $30 million with proper processing and packaging. The country produces 300 varieties of dates. The country can earn from dates more millions of dollars if proper attention is paid to value addition such as the use of dates...