August 28, 2007	Tuesday	Sha’aban 14, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Transportation, quality control and finance are identified as major irritants faced by the horticulture sector in Pakistan. This was the outcome of the sub-committees of the task force on horticulture finance and competitiveness.

The recommendations were discussed in a meeting, headed by the secretary of food Zia-ur-Rehman here on Monday.

Senior Advisor to the Competitiveness Support Fund, Geoff Quartermaine Bastin, briefed the committee that the two major findings of the sub-committees were that transport of horticultural products -- fruits, vegetables and flowers -- was limited because of deficiencies in the logistic system.

The supply of cargo space on aircraft and ships, leaving Pakistan for buying destinations, was in short supply and there was a lack of infrastructure dedicated to the post-harvest handling of horticultural products.

In the case of the former, the implementation committee heard that the few number of direct air connections to major markets and lack of air cargo space restricted export of high value perishable commodities, such as flowers.

With regard to shipping, refrigerated containers were in short supply as was refrigerated road transport. Controlled atmosphere environments and the entire cool chain were either not in place or were dysfunctional.

In consequence, post harvest losses were as high as 40 per cent of the crop.

Another important finding was that quality control in the horticulture sector lacked an efficient inspection service. Relevant legislation was either lacking or had been suspended. This issue was being tackled via the newly-established National Animal and Plant Health Inspections Services, an agency within Minfal that has been set up to develop inspection services required for safe food.

Finance for horticulture was also discussed at the meeting. Javed Malik, Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Finance (MoF) briefed the committee that while commercial banks were willing to lend under both Islamic and standard banking terms, they were generally unfamiliar with the dynamics of the industry.

It was suggested that banks and the industry needed to come together to develop banking products that suited the needs of an industry where the main product is perishable.