Allah all Mighty has blessed Pakistan with great dilbour city of agro climate zones. The agro climate various from very hot and dry climate in arid regions too very cool and wet temperature climate in Northern parts, where usually temperature falls below zero cent grade particularly temperature variation exist from zero grade to 50 cent grade. Brief
Allah all Mighty has blessed Pakistan with great dilbour city of agro climate zones. The agro climate various from very hot and dry climate in arid regions too very cool and wet temperature climate in Northern parts, where usually temperature falls below zero cent grade particularly temperature variation exist from zero grade to 50 cent grade.
Pakistan has rich and vast natural resource base covering various ecological and climating zones hence the country has great potential for producing all kind of food commodity. This vast balancing of agro climate allows producing any rays of highly quality and tasteful fruits, vegetables and field crops during various parts of the year. Agriculture is the main stay of the country’s economy.
The total geographical area of Pakistan is 79.6 million hecters about 27% areas is currently under cultivation of this area 80% is crop irrigated. In which regard Pakistan has one of the highest proportion of crop irrigation cropped area in the world. Pakistan has world’s best canal irrigation system.
Agriculture lands of Pakistan are rich and fertile. This soil has good potential to support good agriculture production. Agriculture is an important sector, providing food to the fast growing population of the country.
Agriculture still remains the major sector of the GDP composition the major parts of the economy defense harmony, through production processing and distribution of major agricultural commodities. In foreign trade agriculture again dominate through export of raw products, such as rice, cotton, fruits, vegetables and semi processed and process products, such as cotton, yarn (cloth) carpets and leather production and total port earning share of primary agro commodity and processed and semi processed product almost 60% of total exports.
Agriculture is a important part of Pakistan economy by providing raw material from many industries and market for many local introduce industrial products to providing food about 170 million people providing main source of livelihood ruler population.
The economists of Keyrebute have advocated that only the Agriculture sector of the Pakistan has potential to lead the future social economies and rogean. The dimour city of agro climate condition rich and fertile soil and an excellent irrigation system. Result in the production of superb quality farm produce, specially basmati rice, citrus and mango of Pakistan have almost a great demand who introducing unique color excellent taste according to board of horticulture development and export promotion buro Pakistan have exported mangoes Pakistan has exported mangoes 150 million dollar and rice export was made 1.5 billion and that’s citrus know about 100 million dollars. Unadoptly we are often opportunity to export of agri produce to mildest, Russian and European markets. Pakistan has a very positive potential or agricultural exports which could result insignificant increase in generation all the need to do harness valuable natural resource adopt proper technologies in the agriculture to enhance production use of state of the art the agriculture technologies and scientific method and better management of the natural resources can, result record increase in per acre yield. It will have not only to meet requirements of the local population but huge exported to curve state and other parts of the world. When the agricultural commodity Pakistan has always great demand.
Federal and Provisional Government of Pakistan have good understanding on appreciating of investment in agriculture sector. So Pakistan agriculture sector offers big opportunity for investment. It is positively hoped the investment when policy of Government will defiantly encourage invest in agriculture sector of Pakistan.
Specially Government policy to support agriculture by exempting and income generating by agriculture production is a big facilitation.
Government is placing great emphasis to promote agro-based projects to enhance exports and minimize post harvest losses with the overall objective of the welfare of the farming community. Pakistan is blessed with a variety of ecological conditions suitable for the production of various crops including fruits and vegetables. Annual production of the fruits and vegetables is generally 2.0 million ton. Major fruits & vegetables of Pakistan are mango, citrus, guava, apple, dates, potatoes, tomato and onion etc. Fruits and vegetables are perishable in nature and cannot be stored for longer time in fresh form. At present, the processed and packed forms of these commodities is hardly about 1-2% and enormous losses (30-40%) worth billion of rupees occur annually due to inadequate facilities for pre and post harvest processing and preservation. If the fruits and vegetables are preserved properly, this can help in decreased post harvest losses, increased shelf life, off season availability and better marketing. Some of the proposed value addition techniques for fruits & vegetables include dehydration, extrusion, candying and canning. Squashes, jams, jellies, juices, marmalade, ketchup and sauces etc. are the most common processed products. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Research and Marketing Wings to establish joint ventures with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Mango enjoys a unique status among tropical fruits. The data reported by FAO indicates that world trade including re-export of mangoes has increased manifolds during the period of last decade. During the year 2005, Pakistan stood at fourth position in the production of mangoes by sharing 6.0% of total world production, with the same position in the total world export. The existing main mango markets for Pakistani mangoes are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UK and Kuwait while emerging new markets include China, Iran, South Africa, Australia, Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. Although it seems that there is huge market to capitalize the potential, the mango industry has to comply with the quarantine requirements of these countries which mean adapting apex quality standards throughout post-harvest requirements. The adaptation of post harvest technology is a pre-requisite stipulation in the WTO regime. The proposed unit will cover all the aspects of post harvest technology of mango including ripening, washing, grading, packing, hot water treatment (HWT) or vapour heat treatment (VHT) and storage/ handling through CFC free and CA (controlled atmospheric) cool chain infrastructure for export and domestic markets. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering), Research and Marketing Wings to establish joint ventures with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Pakistan is one of the largest producer of cotton in the world with an annual production of about 10 million bales. Inspite of the fact that 100% cotton in Pakistan is picked manually and contains minimum trash but its quality is not preserved through ginning. As a result of poor quality of ginning, Pakistani cotton in the international market is sold at discounted rates resulting in loss of billions of rupees to the government as well as the growers. For ginning of cotton in Pakistan saw gin technology is used which requires frequent replacement of saws and ribs. Since the quality & performance of locally produced components is not satisfactory and the imported components are quite expensive, therefore, it is a common practice among the ginners to use rebuilt replacement parts such as saws, ribs, spacers and channel saws. If the quality replacement parts for ginning industry are produced locally to meet the international standards of quality, the proposed facility beside meeting the local demand can also catch the export market in the neighboring countries for marketing of these parts. There is great potential for the private investors to invest in establishment of manufacturing facilities for local production of proposed replacement parts for the ginning industry. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) Wing to establish joint ventures with local counterparts in the Punjab.
According to an estimate, there are about 500 small and medium scale manufacturers of agricultural machinery and implements. At present almost all type of implements are produced locally but the quality of critical components is not up to the mark due to use of substandard material, inappropriate manufacturing and heat treatment facilities. Some of the components which can easily be produced locally are agricultural discs, rotary tiller blades, sweeps, shovels and shares for tillage implements, components of cutter bar for fodder mowers & combine harvesters (knife sections, knife guards, wear plate etc.), nozzles, pumps & pressure control systems for sprayers, seeding and fertilizer metering units and other components such as springs, gears and sprockets etc. For production of quality components alloy steel materials, precision manufacturing and state of the art heat treatment facilities are required to be established. It is expected that if these high quality components are produced locally, the performance of the implements will improve substantially and the implements can be made exportable. Annual demand of these components required for local as well as export market runs into millions. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) Wing to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
The farmers in Pakistan are unable to face the challenges of global markets under WTO regime due to lower yields and high production costs for various corps. The issue can be tackled by introduction of innovative resource conservation technologies (RCTs) developed and successfully adopted in various countries of the world including New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and India etc. Major constraints in the adoption of these technologies in Pakistan are high equipment costs and availability of low cost & appropriate equipment affordable by the small farmers. The issue can, however be resolved through development of low cost equipment for successful adaptation by the farmers for field crops like wheat, maize, rice etc. The private sector needs to be mobilized through foreign investment for acquisition, pilot testing, indigenization and manufacturing of low cost quality equipment for successful adoption of resource conservation technologies. Some of the proposed resource conservation technologies which need to be promoted locally are bed & furrow seed drill, zero tillage seed drill, happy seeder and wheat straw chopper blower. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) & Water Management Wings to establish joint ventures with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Irrigation water is one of the most critical and limiting crop production factors and Pakistan is facing sever shortage of irrigation water resulting in low agricultural productivity. Drip & sprinkler irrigation systems have been successfully adopted in various countries of the world including USA, Australia, China and India etc. for more crop production with less water. Major impediment in the adoption of these technologies is high cost equipment to be imported from other countries as the same at present is not manufactured in Pakistan. Accordingly, government of Pakistan has planned to provide financial assistance to the farmers for adoption of drip and sprinkler irrigation system on about 200,000 acres by launching a project “Water Conservation and Productivity Enhancement through High Efficiency Irrigation System in Pakistan”. The cost of equipment can, however, be reduced considerably by transfer of technology to Pakistan and local production of requisite equipment for sustainable adoption of these technologies. World renowned companies producing drip & sprinkler irrigation systems including those from the above said countries may invest in this sector. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Water Management Wing to establish joint ventures with local counterparts in the Punjab.
As per published reports, average yield of crops in Pakistan is much below as compared to the yields in developed countries. One of the major reason for this is use of uncertified and high yielding seeds of major crops like wheat, cotton, rice and maize. The yield of cotton can be increased significantly using Bt cotton seed and that of maize by using hybrid seeds. At present, the PSC is producing over 800 thousands tones of certified seeds of different crops. In addition to that, PSC has also exported over 30 thousand tones quality seeds to other countries including Augustan, Bangladesh, Burma, Iran and Iraq through FAO. Keeping in view the declined productivity of existing conventional seeds, there is big demand of high quality seeds of major and minor crops in the world market for which foreign investment is required for production and marketing of BT/Hybrid seeds of cotton and maize. Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) is the leading ISO Certified Seed Company in Pakistan which has excellent infra-structure of Seed Farms, Processing Plants, Stores and expertise along with wide spread net-work for the production and marketing of quality seeds. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through Punjab Seed Corporation to setup joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Pakistan is gifted with best climate, soils, irrigation water and hardworking manpower which have helped the horticulturist to produce excellent quality cut flowers but their export is limited as these are not being produce according to international quality standards in terms of their grading and packing. Some of the flowers of Pakistan which are liked world over are roses, gladiolus, gerbera, carnation, lilies, chrysanthemum and tube rose. For production of flowers to meet the international quality standards, it is imperative to grow the flowers in controlled environment green houses. Besides marketing of fresh flowers their exists a huge export market for the byproducts of flowers such as essential oils, perfumes and scents. In addition to marketing of fresh flowers and their byproducts, production of flowers seeds is another area of investment. Some of the proposed areas of investment include establishment of controlled environment green houses for growing of flowers and installation of processing machinery & equipment for production of flowers seeds, essential oils, perfumes and scents. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Floriculture Wing to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
The estimated cost of Pesticides imported in Pakistan is about Rs.10.00 billion annually which are mostly used on cotton, vegetables and orchards. The country has not only to spend precious foreign exchange on import of pesticides but the landed cost is also high. Resultantly the cost of production of the crop has increased to a level that growing of these crops is not very profitable. In order to reduce the cost of production of crops on which these pesticides are used, the only option is to manufacture active ingredients (a.i.) and formulate pesticides locally. Some of the pesticides which are generally used in Pakistan belong to Organochlorines, Carbamates, Synthetic Parathyroids and Insect Growth Regulators groups. The cost incurred on pesticides manufacturing may be low in Pakistan owing to lower wages and investor friendly duty structure both on the raw material import and locally produced finished products. There are many opportunities to export surplus active ingredients as well as the intermediate process products to the Central Asian States, Middle East, Turkey and Iran. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Research, Extension and Pest Warning & Quality Control Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Pakistan is one of the largest citrus and mango producing country in the world. At present in Pakistan these fruits are grown on an area of 0.151 million hectares. The Punjab Province produces over 95% of citrus fruit of the total production of Pakistan. Major varieties of citrus fruits which are produced in the Pakistan are kino, oranges, musambi, sweet lime, lemon and grapefruit etc. In Citrus exporting countries, Pakistan’s position is fifth in the world. Pakistan exported about 75 thousand tones of citrus fruits with a total value of Rs.1.225 billions during 2004-05. Major Markets for Pakistani Kino are United Arab Emirates, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Singapore, Bahrain and United Kingdom. At present, mostly citrus fruit is being exported from Pakistan after proper processing through washing, waxing, grading & packing. For this purpose different processing units have been established in Sargodha District which is major kino producing district of the Punjab but other producing districts like T.T.Singh and Mandi Baha-ud-Din being non-core areas for production of citrus are deficient of such type of processing facilities. These districts have large scope to establish such type of washing, waxing, grading & packing units. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Kino, mango and tomato are the major fruits of Pakistan but these have very short shelf life due to which post harvest losses are very high (30 to 40%) and its export in fresh form is very limited (1-2%). To avoid these losses, it is necessary that beside export in fresh form, it should also be exported in properly processed and packed form. The international demand for fruit pulp, concentrate and fresh juices is increasing day by day. Pakistan being a major producing country of these fruits in the world, is encouraging the local industry to establish proper processing facilities with an overall objectives to minimize post harvest losses and increase export. There exists a large scope of investment to setup the facilities for production of fruit pulp, concentrate, juice and tomato paste for domestic as well as export market. The Province of the Punjab welcomes this type of investment to help increase its export volume for earning more foreign exchange. The most suitable districts for such type of investment are Rahim Yar Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur for Mango and Sargodha and Toba Tek Singh for Citrus. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Research and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Pakistan is producing the best quality fruits and vegetables which are liked world-over. Pakistan is also exporting a significant amount of these fruits and vegetables in fresh as well as processed and preserved form but the potential of exporting dehydrated products has not so far been exploited. Different types of fruits such as pomegranate & dates and similarly vegetables like peas, chilli, onion, garlic, fenugreek, bitter gourd and cauliflower etc. are being dehydrated in Pakistan by using conventional methods. The conventional methods of de-hydration are very crude and some of the time are also unhygienic as a result of which these processed products are not being accepted in the international market. It is expected that if these products are dehydrated to meet the international quality standards, there exists a great potential for export. Government of Punjab is also encouraging to establish fruits and vegetables dehydration plants especially for cottage industry to ensure continuous supply throughout the years which can help control the sudden price like of different Kitchen items and fruits. Moreover the handling and transportation of dehydrated fruits and vegetables is very easy and economical as compared to handling and transportation of these products in fresh form. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Research and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
Pakistan is famous for producing quality vegetables. Due to limited shelf life, a significant produce is wasted or has to be sold even below production cost. There are certain vegetables, shelf life of which can not be increased through conventional methods of processing and preservation. For example, in case of potato, prolonged storage in a cold store is not possible because of sweating problem. To avoid the sweetness problem in potato, if it is stored in frozen form, the shelf life is increased to several times the life of conventionally stored potatoes. Similar is the case for some other vegetables like carrots, peas, ant-flower, corn and cauliflower etc. The trade of frozen vegetables have a considerable role in the domestic as well as international market but at present the technology of producing frozen vegetables in Pakistan has not been introduced and adapted on large scale. According to reports, more than 4 Million tones of frozen potatoes were traded internationally which is about half of the total trade of fresh potatoes. Moreover the export of frozen potatoes has an upward trend and it is increasing rapidly as compared to marketing of the fresh potatoes. Frozen vegetables are ready to cook and there is no chemical use in their storage. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Research and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
The world market for food and other crops is expanding with the increase in global population. Therefore, dire need is to invest more for the purpose of food security. Pakistan is also one of the highly populated country in the world due to which its consumption for different fruits & vegetables is also increasing day by day. Due to limited shelf life of fruits and vegetables, their availability in off seasons is not only uncertain but these are also quite expensive. In order to meet the growing demand of vegetables and other high value crops including medicinal plants, spices and flowers, hi-tech and environmentally controlled green houses for growing these products have been developed in the world. Growing of these crops in conventional or hydroponics green houses helps increase in productivity by several times beside cheaper and ensured availability in fresh form during off-seasons. It is proposed that growing of high value crops and flowers in environmentally controlled green houses, specially in the areas where summer temperature do not rise beyond 35 oC can be very economical and profitable. Some of the parameters which require environmental control in green house include corbon-di-oxide, light, humidity and temperature. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
In Pakistan about 10.86 million tons of fruits and vegetables are produced annually which are mostly consumed afresh during the season which normally is of very short duration. Some of the marketing constraints are over supply during the season and shortage during off season. It has been estimated that upto 40% fruits and vegetables are wasted during the season due to non-preservation or lack of export facilities. If the fruits and vegetables are marketed through cool chain infrastructure (cold storage, reefer transport and cold shelves), this can help not only to increase the shelf life but can also help in controlled marketing. Some of the fruits and vegetables which can be marketed through cool chain infrastructure include potato, tomato, mango, citrus, guava, apple and peaches. Similarly, other agricultural produce like milk, dairy products, meat and fish can also be marketed through cool chain infrastructure to achieve the similar objectives. It is expected that, marketing of perishable commodities through cool chain infrastructure will help the farming community by not only creating on-farm job opportunities but in the form of better economic return of their produce. Government of the Punjab, Agriculture Department pledge to facilitate the foreign investors alongwith provision of technical services through its Field (Engineering) and Marketing Wings to establish a joint venture with local counterparts in the Punjab.
