Exports of fruits are growing fast. Over the last three years, their foreign sales grew at an average annual rate of around 17pc — from $292m in FY11 to over $438m in FY14.

And much of this increase came through higher per unit prices as volumes of exports rose by less than 3pc year —from 723,300 tonnes in FY11 to 786,200 tonnes in FY14, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

What is even more encouraging is that fruit exports are becoming diversified: Exports of citrus fruits, mango and apples now account for about 60 per cent the total fruit export earnings, down from about 70pc a couple of years ago, exporters say. They point out that exports of bananas, cherries, guavas, papayas, pear, peach, plum, melons straw berries and watermelons have increased and efforts to promote exports of such non-traditional fruits like litchi have started yielding results. “Litchi production in Khanewal, Punjab has been growing steadily and part of it is also being sent abroad,” says a Karachi-based exporter.

Diversification of export markets is also at work. Pakistani fruits are now being exported not only to the traditional markets like Afghanistan, Iran, America, Canada and European and Middle Eastern countries but also to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China and South East Asian and North African market Exporters expect to earn half a billion dollars through foreign sales during this fiscal year, pinning their hopes ons. resolution of fruit flies issue in case of mango, rising exports of other fruits and, improved fruit processing and grading that fetches higher per-unit value.

Exporters expect to earn half a billion dollars through foreign sales of fruits during this fiscal year

When demand for apples surged during Ramazan this year (which fell in July), local markets flooded with apples from New Zealand, Brazil and Russia. “That itself was an indication that our own exports of apples is growing faster than before because there was no drop in domestic production,” says a Karachi-based exporter who continued exporting this fruit to European and Middle Eastern markets till July when exports of apple normally dries up. “We have huge buying orders waiting to be executed between November this year and February next year,” he told Dawn explaining that apples’ exports peak during these four months every year.

Recent reports of suspected presence of fruit flies in certain EU-bound mango consignments have renewed an old debate among exporters on what can be done to upgrade quality of mango exports and boost its per-unit value.

Sources aware of the ongoing talks with Pakistani and EU authorities say the matter would be sorted out pretty soon pressing the point that the possibility of a fully-fledged ban on mango exports was remote. “Just five consignments have been subjected to scrutiny over suspected presence of fruit flies and both sides are working hard to get past thing. The issue may be sorted out within a few days,” an official of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan told Dawn on August 8.

Exporters complain that TDAP officials and other relevant agencies do not keep them updated about specific changes in quality and quarantine standards of importing countries. They also complain of corrupt practices of customs officials, which enables a couple of business-hoppers to export sub-standard fruits at cheap rates and frustrates efforts of genuine exporters to remain competitive in quality and pricing.

Regardless of such small impediments, fruit exports are growing as trade surplus in rising and processing and packaging is improving with investment in technology. Lately branding and online-marketing have provided impetus to exports.

A senior official of Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research says PCSIR is willing to help fruit producers. “We can develop specific pesticides that they need, help them have Ethylene Chambers for ripening of fruits and show them how to increase yields of various fruits with the use of plant tissue culture.”

Fruit growers, particularly of citrus fruit say some of them have individually approached PCSIR and agricultural university of Faisalabad to seek their help to develop new varieties of kinnow, contain the spread of certain fruit diseases and reinvent ways of ripening the fruits. But they stress that there is a need for institutional collaboration among growers and exporters, provincial agricultural departments, PCSIR and TDAP etc..

From growers and exporters to customs authorities to plant protection department and agricultural research institutions to shipping and airlines, there is a long supply chain of fruit exports. Each one of those, who make up this supply chain, does not share a common agenda of boosting fruit exports.

A senior official of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research thinks that “We need a broader strategy which must assign each stakeholder a certain responsibility, besides showing him the way where he can get assistance for discharging this responsibility.”

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, August 18th, 2014