Showing posts with label Agriculture and Farming. Show all posts

Smartphone Apps Aiding Farmers

Posted by Unknown in , , on Tuesday, 29 January 2013

APPS are quickly becoming vital farm tools, writes CIMARA PEARCE
Gone are the days of having to walk down to the back paddock to check how many head of cattle you've got grazing there.
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So too are the days of trying to guess what the weather is going to do.
Today's smartphone technology and the multitude of agriculture-related iPhone and iPad applications on the market mean regular weather updates and farming information is literally at farmers' fingertips.
With more people embracing the technology, and a range of farm management apps coming on to the market, it might not be long before farmers swap their notebooks for smartphones.
One of the latest to attract rave reviews from farmers is the Elders weather app.
It has had more than 12,000 downloads since being released late last year.
The application has a 4.5-star rating in Apple's app store and, at $1.99, has many in the agriculture industry labelling it the best of its kind on the market.
Elders sales marketing and supply chain general manager Mark Geraghty said the decision to take the respected Elders weather website and turn it into an app was an easy one.
"Elders weather is a very popular website and lot of our clients and non-clients use it every day," he said.
"Farming is not about sitting in front of a computer and our clients need the convenience of being able to check the weather at their fingertips.
"With smartphone technology now used so widely, both in urban and rural Australia, it was a natural progression to move to this technology."
Coolac farmer Jock Graham helped pioneer another popular new app: F-Track Live.
It is an on-the-go farm management program that is ideal for use by multiple farm workers wanting to access information.
"We're on a farm out here at Coolac, near Gundagai, and we've got cattle, sheep and crops here and I guess I do a lot of the cropping work and it was spawned out of that," Jock said.
"I was away on the tractor somewhere, and I didn't know what the livestock numbers were and what paddocks they were in, because I had someone else doing that.
"I thought we could just make one, so went down the road of finding out what you have to do and got a group of farmers who thought the idea was pretty good and they backed it ... and then I found someone who could develop it."
With more than 450 people registering for the program's free 30-day trial, the response had been "really positive so far", Jock said.
Smartphone technology is also being embraced by agriculture groups looking to promote their messages. Meat and Livestock Australia released several applications last year, including Aussie Lamb and Beef Essentials, both aimed at identifying cuts of meat and providing recipe ideas.
Jock said he thought more farmers were realising the benefits of using smartphones and iPads to help with day-to-day farm life.
"Three years ago, I didn't have any kind of smartphone and since grabbing one, I think I use the internet on it more than I use the phone," he said.
"I think people are really starting to embrace it because everything has become wireless and it all links in really well and it's just really good technology."

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10 Barriers to Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh Identified

Posted by Unknown in , , on Monday, 28 January 2013


The central bank has identified ten barriers including poor banking infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, now stand in the way of financial inclusion in Bangladesh.
"Keeping in view the number of financially excluded people in Bangladesh, about half of the adult population is un-banked (48.49 percent) in terms of deposit accounts in the banks," Bangladesh Bank (BB) said in a working paper styled 'Financial Inclusion: The Role of Bangladesh Bank,' released recently.

The major barrier is geographical or physical access measuring the average distance from household to bank branch; however, the branches per 1,000 square kilometres could be used as crude indicator for providing an initial idea to the barriers of inclusion, the paper added.
Citing an example, the paper said Spain has 96 branches per 100,000 people and 790 branches per 1,000 square kilometres, while Bangladesh has less than seven branches (or ATM) per 100,000 population and about 67 branches (or ATM) per 1,000 square kilometres.

A large section of the population who do not have any physical access to the banking services are in rural and remote areas in the country, according to the paper.
"As a competitive and cost effective strategy, major banks focus on large scale of loans instead of providing services for small size of loan; as a result, rational business decisions prevent a major portion of people from accessing loan services including small and medium enterprises (SME) and agriculture loan," it said quoting poor level of technological infrastructure.
Promoting technological and institutional innovations as a means could expand the financial system access and usage; however, less than four people per 1,000 population in the country are using credit cards identifying the technological and infrastructural weaknesses, according to the paper.
Other barriers include lack of proper documentation, inadequate financial literacy or education, high requirement of minimum balance, low income, lack of suitable product structure of banks and micro-financial institutions (MFIs), high cost of product and absence of credit bureau and insurance of MFI borrowers.

Recent trend in mobile banking indicates that financial inclusion is scaling up in Bangladesh especially in rural areas where no bank branch is available.

"Recent data show that number of mobile phone subscribers and tele-density have been increasing substantially over time creating an opportunity for banks and MFIs to use the mobile technology in the financial services and serve un-banked people with lower costs specially in the rural areas," the paper said, adding that rate of overall financial inclusion is increasing in modest pace.

It is observed that financial inclusion of total population increased from 39.76 per cent in 2004 to 56.42 per cent in 2010, the paper noted.

In terms of adult population, it increased from 65.33 per cent in 2004 to 87.23 per cent in 2010 due to opening of a significant number of 10 taka account in the last two years, according to the paper.
The BB has recommended that the central banks of the SAARC region can initiate policies targeting low income populations by introducing agriculture and rural programmes under a comprehensive monitoring strategy.

In this connection, loans to sharecroppers and small enterprises introduced by the BB has been contributing not only to achieving wider coverage of financial inclusion in Bangladesh but also to reducing the high dependence of small and marginal farmers on non-institutional sources, it added.

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Food Security in Bangladesh

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Sunday, 27 January 2013

Food security plays an important role in social and political stability of a country. But sustaining agricultural growth and food security is a challenge for the present day world, especially for developing countries.
Climate change and disasters aggravate the risk further. International organisations are warning about hunger and food insecurity risks in many countries. In this context, the Bangladesh government is considering the issue with utmost priority because Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries of the world.

The disaster-hit people need emergency food assistance, as their capacity to access to markets falls drastically. Increasing population, poverty (31.5% of the population is still poor), decreasing availability of land resources and seasonal umemployment in agriculture sector compound the problems. Thus, ensuring food security and effective disaster management are the two enormous challenges for the government.
The country saw unprecedented agricultural growth during the Awami League government in 1996-2001. This was possible due to pragmatic plans and effective implementation by the then government of Sheikh Hasina. The country became cereal surplus for the first time in 1999-2000. Food grain production rose from 19 million MT in 1996 to 26.9 million MT in 2000-2001.

That, a rise of about 8 million MT in five years, was almost equal to the achievements in the previous 25 years (1971-1996). Agricultural growth was 8.10% and 6.18 % in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 respectively. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded the prestigious CERES Award by FAO for the country’s unprecedented success in agriculture production and food management.But the growth trend did not sustain during BNP’s regime in 2001-2006.
They did not fulfil their commitments to the people and there was severe mismanagement in procurement and distribution of agricultural inputs like fertilizers, seeds, diesel etc.

The average agricultural growth came down below 3.5%. The BNP government did not buildup sufficient public stock to face any food crisis. Consequently, the country’s food security fell to an all-time critical level in 2007 and 2008, compounded by the global food crisis during the rule of the caretaker government.
International prices of rice price rose from $301 per MT in 2006-07 to $665 per MT in 2008-09. This, along with other failures, resulted in domestic price increase of Tk.35-50 per kilogram. Wheat price also increased similarly during this period. In this situation, the present government took office on January 9, 2009 with the pledge to bring down the prices to an acceptable level. Pledge and renewed focus on food securityThe present government had to start with the residual shocks and impacts of the 2007-08 food crisis.

In addition to this, cyclone Aila hit south-west Bangladesh on May 25, 2009. It caused huge damage in agriculture production and water infrastructure along the coastline.

The government, therefore, opted for augmenting production and took up massive programmes. It halved the prices of non-urea fertilizers, made quality seeds available, increased subsidy on inputs including diesel, and eased the credit provisions.

Thus, agriculture production growth bounced back from 3.5% to 4.5%. In the last two years, the growth increased further. The government has also maintained conducive output prices for the farmers.

Market monitoring has also been strengthened to procure food grain after harvest. International support for improving food securityAfter assumption of office, the present government launched the National Food Policy Action Plan (2008-2015) and initiated formulation of the Country Investment Plan for Food Security (2011-2015). This plan consists of 12 programmes for improving availability of, access to, and utilisation of food with an involvement of $7.8 billion, of which $5 billion need to be mobilised.

The Asia-Pacific Food Security Investment Forum held in Manila in July 2010 and the 36th session of the Committee on World Food Security held in Rome in October 2010 honoured Bangladesh as a “showcase country” for this unique policy planning framework. This Plan has thus opened the window for international support for food security in the country.Initiative for enhancing access to food for the poorDelivering food to the poor through the Public Food Distribution System (PFDS) is the main strategy for ensuring food security for the poor.
The government has taken initiatives to enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social safety-net programmes. As a result, the overall distribution under PFDS in 2010-2011 stood at over 2.29 million MT as compared to 1.25 million MT in 2005-06.

Accordingly, the allocation to safety-net as percent of GDP increased from its earlier 1.6% to 2.5-2.6% in recent years.
Muhammad Abdur Razzaque

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Farm & Forest Can Develop Together According To Scientists

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Agriculture and forest can exist in harmony with each other and sustainable development too can take place provided things are planned in that manner.
Unfortunately, lack of coherent and sustainable planning, a result of absence of a 'land use policy' in the country, is not allowing that to happen. As along as human beings do not break the balance and interfere with ecology, agriculture and forest need not be in conflict with each other.
This was the opinion of almost every speaker at the inaugural programme of a two-day brainstorming session on 'Agriculture and Forest: Conflicting Domains or Symbiotic Paradigm' organized by the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP) on Tuesday.
S M Virmani, former chief scientist of International Crop Research Institute of Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, said that forest was capable of giving every thing human beings could ask for including shelter, food, and medicines but it was our greed that was leading to a situation of conflict. Giving examples of gradual disappearance of sparrow from urban ecology and tigers from forests, he said these were manmade disasters. The man-animal conflict was an example of man encroaching upon tiger's territory rather than tiger encroaching on human land. He warned that unless we traced the causes of this conflict. the required damage control was not possible.
A K Joshi, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Maharashtra, spoke about the nature and conflict between people, animal, forest and agriculture activities and also mentioned the importance of symbiosis of these activities.
He also spoke about the livelihood opportunities through ecotourism in the tribal belts.
Ram Prasad, ex-PCCF Madhya Pradesh, explained the role of water management through forest for agriculture purpose and importance of forest planning for watershed management to provide maximum benefits to farmers in the lower reaches. Forest and agriculture both were land based, occupying a continuum on the landscape and their co-existence was necessary for sustainable livelihood in the tribal areas, he said.
He also mentioned that agriculture was the main beneficiary of forest ecosystem, conservation of forest could provide satisfaction provided policies were formulated to address specific issues, he added.
Dipak Sarkar, NBBS&LUP director, stressed on the role of forests in carbon storage as trees were the biggest source of carbon sequestration. He pointed out that cutting of forests led to huge soil erosion which had a devastating effect on both forest ecosystem as well as human life.
Ashok Sharma, chief general manager of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra, traced the root cause of various problems to improper policies. He categorically stated that disregarding scientific principles of management could eventually lead to vegetation anarchy both in forestry and agriculture. He called for a comprehensive landscape management policy.
Arun Chaturvedi, principal scientist and head of land use planning at NBBS&LUP, spoke on symbiosis of agriculture and forests. He observed that climate change would affect rainfed agriculture and increase pressure on the forests.
He stressed on the need for creating awareness among farmers about value of non-timber forest produce.
He said in erstwhile forested areas, it was not possible to sustain a family of even 4-5 persons on one or two hectare of land. The income from agriculture needed to be supplemented with additional income from forest produce or other ancillary activities like poultry, pisciculture small ruminant animals etc.
Expert View
* Since forests are biggest source of carbon-dioxide sequestration, conscious efforts should be done to increase forest cover without displacing forest dwellers
* Efforts must be made to minimize global warming caused through agriculture
* Agriculture growth should shift from horizontal to vertical
* Identify faults in existing forest and agriculture development processes and make efforts to rectify them
* Evolve better and scientific policies of land use for sustainable forest and agriculture development
* Develop a land use policy for country
* Increase per hectare productivity of agriculture and diversify agriculture

Times of India

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Understanding the Food Supply Chain

Posted by Unknown in , , ,


Agriculture policies of both India and China would have to cope with the dual challenges of feeding the poor and meeting the rapidly growing needs of the middle-class.

Both China and India, despite their high growth rates, have deprived and vulnerable populations that are susceptible to hunger. While the opening up of the economy to ensure growth is a well established tradition, there is less clarity on what should be the role of the State in providing food and ensuring a functional food supply chain.

Reforms that make agriculture more market-oriented require the replacement of state institutions by more market-based pricing rules. While these new rules might be helpful in reducing unnecessary costs on account of poor administrative action, it would be foolish and short-sighted to entirely dismantle state institutions in agriculture. The challenges of handling the logistics and technological upgradation of the agricultural supply chain are evident in China and India, though they have undertaken very different policies with regard to food procurement and distribution.

DELIVERY MECHANISMS

The Chinese state has devolved agricultural policy to the district level, with district mayors often sub-contracting provision of food to poorer sections to local government bodies. The move away from a central financial control to a local state-funded system of development was part of a national decision to move away ‘from maximising to minimising the state' devised in the late 1990s. This has resulted in state agencies losing their monopoly position in many areas of agricultural marketing and processing. They are now required to cooperate with enterprises outside the state sector, particularly with private sector players. The localisation of agricultural distribution has led to large variations in provision, with some districts having a far better track record than others.

In the case of India, public agricultural institutions dominate foodgrain procurement and delivery. The intervention by the Indian state in procurement through the minimum support price (MSP) is regarded as a costly and inefficient operation. A manifestation of the squandering of government funds is the manner in which the current procurement levels of 60 million tonnes (mt) of grains is being managed. Only three-fourths of this grain is held in storage with adequate cover, while the remaining 15 mt lie relatively exposed to the elements and to pests.

In India, there has been far more debate about the type of public distribution system (PDS) – especially over the shift from a more comprehensive universal PDS to the narrower version of the so-called Targeted PDS in the late 1990s. On the other hand, there has been a relative neglect of the mid-chain components of storage, as a result of which the logistics of foodgrain movement have remained virtually unchanged.

The Food Security Act, sought to be introduced by the current Government since 2009, has generated considerable debate, culminating in demands for a fundamental restructuring of the final stage of the agricultural supply chain, where food security should be a universal right. But this content also provides a valuable opportunity for revisiting the various capacity constraints in each section of the chain and the evaluation of the cost implications of changing these constraints.

STATE INTERVENTION

The size and effectiveness of delivery of foodgrains can be deduced from the nature and reliability of the food supply chain. The hasty dismantling of state institutions would not be conducive to bolstering the capacity of the supply chain to improve procurement and delivery. The success of bringing in the private sector is dependent of the operation of a set of government regulations that would operate throughout the chain to ensure minimum standards and technological dynamism.

In the case of China, a large part of procured grain stocks are being diverted towards the creation of a processed foods sector to enhance the production of meat and animal-based products. This will help to diversify the Chinese agricultural product sub-sector that can be subsequently procured through an expanded agricultural supply chain in the future.

In the case of India, the present-day agricultural reforms continue to focus exclusively on procurement and distribution of foodgrains within the framework of the existing agricultural food chain. There has been very limited analysis of how technology can help improve processed food or animal products that will increasingly become the major items of food consumption by the growing middle classes.

Furthermore, the importance of food standards and food safety is still relatively unexplored in the food procurement policy of both India and China and could prove a future threat to the food security of both countries.

RISING MIDDLE CLASS

The continued importance of feeding the poor and the new challenge of meeting the demands of a rapidly growing middle class will continue to be a concern for national agricultural policy in both countries. The difference is that India still has at least a third of its population in poverty and public institutions are already stretched in trying to ensure food reaches this vulnerable sector.

In China's case, the high levels of industrial growth in the reform period were able to reduce poverty levels by half. The use of the largesse of industrial growth to provide transfers for the poorer sections of rural China was a smaller task.

The challenge ahead for both countries is how they use the agricultural supply chain to deal with the already evident problems of uneven coverage in different districts in each nation, and how they move forward to ensure more and better quality food.

(The author is Lecturer in Development Studies and Fellow of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge.)


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Boosting Agriculture is Key to Reducing Effects of Climate Change

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Floods, drought, food insecurity hit Africa hardest
Kim Lewis | Washington D.C.

(Voice of America) Scientists say agriculture must be a key focus in confronting the effects of climate change.

Agricultural experts at the climate conference in Durban, South Africa, say this year's meeting offers a unique opportunity to address the role of agriculture in reducing the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

“If you look at the projections for climate change, the worst hit is going to be Africa,” said Bruce Campbell, director of the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

“Even if you look at what’s happening today in terms of the numbers of disasters, numbers of floods, numbers of droughts, it’s already being felt in Africa,” he said.

Campbell, who’s attending the conference, said climate change is wiping out crops and livestock.

But he said a variety of solutions are being discussed at this year’s meeting, as are many small-scale success stories.

“What one wants to do is scale up on the successes. For example, there’s risk insurance; it ensures farmers against calamities. There [are] improved weather advisories so farmers have a better idea before the season starts, and then they can make wise decisions about whether they invest in fertilizer,” said Campbell.

There are also techniques like “conservation agriculture” in southern Africa, where already 250,000 Zambian farmers are benefitting from more soil fertility, improving yield and at the same time putting carbon back into the soil.

Agriculture production contributes about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Half of these are direct emissions from agriculture itself. “For example, fertilizer application results in nitrous oxide.
The other half is from the impact of agriculture on forests, where [they] are cleared for agriculture use,” said Campbell.

In the case of fertilizer, the nitrous oxide released can be reduced by using the smallest effective amount and carefully targeting its application.

Campbell added that by applying these techniques and technologies, agricultural production can be improved and pollution reduced.


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Declining Suicidal Trend in Indian Farmers | No Farmer Suicides Reported from Kerala in 2009-11

Posted by Unknown in , , on Saturday, 26 January 2013

The Union Government today informed the Kerala High Court that no farmers suicides were reported from Kerala during 2009-11.
According to reports furnished by the state government, there has been a declining trend in suicides in farming.
In the report indicating number of suicides by farmers due to agrarian reasons, no cases were reported from Kerala in the three years from 2009-11, Ms Sadhana Khanna, Under Secretary, Agriculture Department, said in a counter affidavit on a petition seeking to take steps to curb suicides among poor farmers in Kerala.
It was also stated that as per national crime records bureau, the number of suicides in the agriculture sector was 15,964 till 2010. Suicides in this sector decreased by 8.1 per cent over 2009.
The Centre also claimed steps had been taken to address agrarian distress in some parts of the country and improve conditions of farmers. Rehabilitation package for distressed farmers was initiated in 2006-07 in 31 districts in four States.
In Kerala, this scheme was implemented in Wayanad, Palakkad and Kasaragod districts.


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Rejuvenating India’s Agriculture Sector

Posted by Unknown in , , on Friday, 25 January 2013

(The Economic Times) Rejuvenating India's agriculture sector, which provides livelihood to nearly 60% of the workforce, needs to be made central to the inclusive growth endeavour. India's current policies for the agriculture sector are geared towards short-term solutions and revenue expenditure rather than long-term capital investment solutions. The dependence on subsidies squeezes government spends on critical infrastructure, technology and credit, in the absence of which farmers use inefficient methods of cultivation. 
The need for increasing agricultural productivity through technology infusion and market-led interventions is gaining urgency. It is well-acknowledged that every rupee of contribution to GDP from farming is twice as effective as other interventions in alleviating rural poverty. Agriculture is an indirect growth driver, as a growth rate of 4% in agriculture translates into robust demand for other sectors. 
High agriculture growth also helps mute food inflation. Yields per hectare of foodgrains, fruits and vegetables in India are far below global averages. Our rice yields are one-third of China's, and about half of Vietnam's and Indonesia's. Even India's most productive states lag global averages. For example, Punjab's yield of rice in 2010 was 3.8 tonnes per hectare against the global average of 4.3 tonnes. The average yield for apples in India (J&K ) is about 11 tonnes per acre compared to the US, New Zealand, Israel or China, where yields range 30-70 tonnes per acre. 
This pattern is typical of most of our farm commodities such as pulses and edible oilseeds whose demand has been rising faster than supply, adding to food inflation. Substantial hikes in Minimum Support Price for rice and wheat have distorted production patterns, resulting in loss of benefits of crop diversification and inadequate focus on cash crops. Lack of infrastructure , post-harvest linkages and technology further results in losses across the supply chain. For example, gross capital formation in agriculture and allied sectors has been below 3% for years. The experience of other economies at similar stages of development is instructive. 
Brazil, China, and several south-east Asian countries have leveraged technology and instituted trade-friendly policies to bring in greater private sector investments into agriculture. In India, where 80% of landholdings are of less than two acres, it is essential to find economically viable solutions to improve farmer incomes. Technologies for energy saving , environment protection, and satellite mapping need to be infused into the sector. All this would require high investments . Such investments can be attracted from the private sector, which has largely remained outside the effort on agricultural capital expenditure . Legal and policy interventions could help augment private investments. For example, the Agriculture Produce Market Committees Act has yet to be revisited in many states. 
Supply chain infrastructure creation such as warehousing , cold storage and rural roads, would also bring in private funds. The private sector is capable of large-scale technology infusion. Precision farming , which leverages IT for matching inputs and provides real-time information on soil, has been deployed to good use by the Argentine group Los Grobos in an outsourcing structure . No-till farming is used in place of ploughing in some countries, leaving residue of the last crop to enrich the soil. Such new-age farming methods , if propagated, can transform production and yields. So, it is essential to raise public research in agriculture. Part of Brazil's success in the sector owes to its high expenditure on agricultural research at 1.7% of its GDP, higher than in China. 
Investment in R&D and sciencebased technologies would greatly benefit India as well, which has 14 agri-climatic zones and potentially wide range of agri produce. Private investment into agriculture R&D must be encouraged through incentives such as tax breaks and availability of land and infrastructure. Finally , trade-led agricultural development must be considered . While self-sufficiency has been the primary objective for the agriculture policy, export of agri-produce to other markets must be explored. For example, countries such as Mexico and the Philippines have taken lead positions in export of mangoes, one of India's trademark fruits. Agricultural tariffs need rethinking in this context. 
As the Indian economy expands , better productivity through technology infusion and introduction of global best practices will ensure better quality and prices for consumers . Also, Indian agriculture will be able to meet to the changing needs of today's consumer and this will give a major fillip to farmers to diversify to high value cash crops. But most importantly, the true winner will be the farmer, in particular the small and marginal farmer, who will be able to improve his income through better productivity and be an equal partner in India's growth.

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Need to Develop Farm Supply Chain Stressed

Posted by Unknown in , ,


A Typical Agricultural Supply Chain
Secretary Commerce Zafar Mahmood has stressed upon the need for developing supply chain of value-added farm goods to bring about quantum jump in exports. He said Pakistan had only managed to develop supply chain for cotton crop, but neglected all other agriculture produces.
Speaking to a panel of Dawn here on Monday, he said that there exists big scope for going into value-addition of a large number of farm produces such as mangoes, kinno, dates, dairy products, vegetables, fish, byproducts of rice and wheat etc., but needs some motivation and patronage of federal and provincial governments.
He said project financing would be needed to introduce technology in value-addition chain of different farm produce and this could only be possible once there is a focused approach and investors are given proper guidance and assistance at all stages and levels.
“It is not a rocket science but only needs dedication from private sector which could bring in investment and required technology but without the government patronage this task could not be achieved,” he maintained.
There is a greater need, he said, to develop farm to market place of a supply chain and logistics if a success has to be achieved in value-addition of farm produce. He said the only way out was to concentrate on value-addition of existing exports because presently barring textiles most of exports were of semi-raw materials or were of low cost value-addition.
Most of the farm produces are being exported at a low cost simply because of poor standard and secondly due to lack of knowledge about global requirement for different type of treatments — vapour or hot water — and sanitary standards needed for fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Once awareness is created and required facilities are developed the country could easily multiply its exports and earning of farmers within a short period,” he added.
Responding to a question, he agreed that such facilities should be developed around Karachi because all goods have to pass through the city for exports. “Pakistan needs to focus on high yielding markets but for this our exporters have to meet their specifications starting from procurement, grading, processing and packing.”
After European Union imposed ban on fish imports from Pakistan on account of poor hygienic conditions of processing units, he said, all of our fish catch is now being exported to Vietnam from where after value-addition it is being exported to EU member states.
The secretary commerce said Pakistan would have to put lot of efforts in controlling contamination in its agriculture produce including cotton, fruits and vegetables and should ensure that it could follow world standards. Some countries, he said, even seek traceability of fresh fruits starting from orchard tree.He further said that logistics was yet another important link in the entire value chain of fresh fruits and vegetables and that would also need lot of investment and know-how.
There would be a need for establishing cold chain starting from farm to point of export which means that cold storage facilities will have to be developed across the country and goods in transit will also have to be transported through reefer containers.
In short, he said, it is the quality and specification of fresh fruits and vegetables which could fetch good price and make its place in the world market.
The Dawn

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