Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan is a recognized as a producer and exporter of kinnow mandarins around the world. A majority of the country’s production comes from the Sargodha region where the fruits are produced and processed.

Waheed Ahmed, Vice President of FPCCI and patron in Chief of All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporter, Importer and Merchant Association (PFVA) said that the export of kinnow commenced on December 01, 2017 and the export target during the current year has been set at 250,000 tons.

The kinnow sector is experiencing numerous issues in the export of kinnow which led to a consistent decline in exports since the year 2014-15. 375,000 tons of kinnow was exported last year 2014-15. However, even the export target of 300,000 tons could not be attained during last year’s season being limited only to only 280,000 tons.

“The production of kinnow during the current season is anticipated to be between 1,900,000 tons to 2,000,000 tons”, he added

President Fruit and Vegetables Exporters Association, Muhammad Ahsan Gorya told Daily Times that there are around 200 processing units for kinnow mandarins in Pakistan, the majority of which are located in Sargodha, Kot Momin, Balwal, Shahpur, Silla Wali, Lalia and Chinuot, adding that Pakistan has reigned supremecy in the industry for a long time, with little competition from other countries and strong government support of producing, processing and exporting.

“This year expected export volume is 4 to 5 metric ton out of total production that is 20 -22 LAC metric ton,” he informed.

According to Ahsan, who is also Managing Director of Sargodha Mandarins, said that “It is from here that we produce and export our products to the Gulf and Russia & Ukraine.”

Ahsan said that Indonesia offers zero-rated market access to kinnow and oranges from Pakistan, providing a level playing field to this product in the Indonesian market. However, Pakistani exporters face tough competition in Indonesia as regional countries also export fruits to Indonesia on low duties due to the agreements among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trading block. “The difference this year will be the quality. Russia will be the recipient of 30 – 40% of these fruits”, said Gorya The current season has affected our production and our demand. The weather in the gulf is a bit hotter than usual, which has caused the demand for our larger sized mandarins to grow. This has left us with a scenario where our production is unable to keep up with our demand. But we will be around at Christmas time this year. We are waiting for 100% of our fruits to ripen, said Afzal

“Pakistani kinnow mandarins are on the verge of a breakthrough in the Far East. “Indonesia has recently opened up its market to our products. The Indonesian government has allowed the importation of Pakistani mandarins as of December 1, 2017”, he informed

Citrus Research Institute Sargodha (CRIS) Director Muhammad Nawaz Maken said that kinnows export have increased during the current season due to expected bumper crop and the best quality production.

He said that bumper crop of quality kinnow was expected in the current season. He maintained that last year almost 220,000 metric tons of kinnow were exported.

He pointed out that around 200 different varieties of citrus were available at the CRIS and new techniques were also being introduced among growers to enhance the production and quality.

Maiken said that kinnow was being processed for export to international markets as its season will continue till the end of April adding that kinnow export’s would be increased during the current season due to an expected bumper crop and the best quality production. The CRIS was making all-out efforts to improve the quality of citrus and special attention was also being paid to seedless kinnow production which had great demand across the globe, besides strengthening the national economy, he added.

Earlier officials said the demand for Pakistani oranges has dropped in overseas markets as India, Turkey and Egypt have started producing seedless kinnows.

He said that the demand for seedless Kinnows remains high, especially in the west, but unfortunately Pakistan does not produce such varieties. He urged Pakistani farmers to start seedless kinnow production so that exporters could be able to penetrate European Union markets and introduce new varieties, which will fetch good prices in the existing markets.

In a recent exhibition held at the Karachi Expo Centre Exporters shared their experience that Indonesia can become a big market of Pakistani fruits, especially kinnow (mandarin). Pakistan’s major exports to Indonesia include textiles and clothing, vegetables and fruits (mainly oranges) while its major import item from Indonesia is palm oil.

On the other hand Kinnow is also a favorite fruit after mango, as winter commences kinnow is seen at every fruit stall across the country. In every bazzar or market kinnows are found, people seem to have complained that all good quality being exported and here we do not find superior quality of kinnow.

Published in Daily Times, December 7^th 2017.