February 18, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 29, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

RAWALPINDI, Feb 17: The Punjab government and the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB) is working on proposals to set up Common Facility Centres (CFCs) in various parts of the province.

A PHDEB official told Dawn that the centres would help in the development of floriculture, besides enabling growers and exporters to compete in the international market.

He said as a first step, the provincial government and the PHDEB had decided to set up a CFC on an area of 57 acres in Renala Khurd.

The CFC will be equipped with the latest conservation technologies like drip irrigation as well as storage and refrigeration facilities to enable the growers and exporters to cope with the growing pressure in the competitive international market, he added.

The Punjab government and the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board would contribute Rs30-40 million for the project while the Punjab government would give land as equity, the official said, adding that the plots measuring four acres each would be leased out to flower growers and exporters.

“The step would go a long way in developing and promoting floriculture in the province,” he noted.

Pakistan, mostly a fresh flower market, is abundant in rose that is preferred in all ceremonies and also used in perfume industry and many Auravedic and Greek medicine.

Other types of flowers making a debut in the country’s flower business include tube rose, tulip, lily, jasmine, gladioli, and even orchid and many other less popular varieties.

The CFC at Renala Khurd will deal mainly with the cultivation of roses.

The Punjab government and the PHEDB would soon submit a proposal to the Export Development Fund (EDF) in this regard.

An official in the Punjab government and the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board said Pakistan was also involved in bio-technology, tissue culture and cutting of floriculture, adding that as a result the country was in a position to export flowers to the developed world.

However, in order to compete globally, the experts need to study economic trends such as shortage or over-supply of some flower species in particular seasons, he said.