PESHAWAR: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the government formulate a policy on the export of horticultural products along the lines of the textile policy in consultation with stakeholders.

It also called for funds for the promotion of the hybrid seed industry under the private-public partnership.

The demands were made by chairman of the FPCCI regional standing committee on horticulture exports Ahmad Jawad while presiding over a meeting at the federation’s regional office here on Saturday.

Funds for hybrid seed industry also sought

The event was organised to discuss proposals on the budget for agriculture and horticulture sector, a mainstay of the local economy.

Mr. Jawad said despite immense potential, the country’s agricultural sector lacked efficiency and global competitiveness and that inefficiency was undermining the country’s self-sufficiency in production of various farm goods.

He said the production of various farm products had been very low compared with the global benchmark.

The FPCCI committee’s chairman said Pakistan was once dubbed a great bread basket but currently, it had increasingly been becoming an importer of a large number of agricultural commodities.

He said Pakistan’s agriculture sector also faced larger post-harvest losses of 40pc compared with the global benchmark further diminishing the income of growers.

Unfolding the details of the FPCCI’s standing committee’s recommendations to the finance ministry for the 2016-17 budget, he said the panel had proposed different projects under private-public partnerships including cool chain infrastructure for horticulture sector, food processing and value addition industry, agro-processing industry and accredited testing laboratories at horticulture production hubs, especially in KP, to ensure availability of good quality produce for exports.

Mr. Jawad said the government should identify new export markets and sign protocols and agreements to remove bottlenecks for enhancing exports, while a loan scheme for rural youths to promote agricultural services should be introduced.

He demanded funds for the Crop Insurance Scheme for local farmers affected by natural calamities, widespread diseases and unpredictable weather conditions.

The FPCCI representative urged the government to allow duty-free import of European-refurbished agricultural machinery.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2016