MULTAN, Dec 28: The air freight rates should be fixed before a season to save exporters from problems due to frequent revisions.

This was urged by the Punjab Mango Production and Marketing Committee during a meeting at the Shujabad Mango Research Station here on Thursday with Khawaja Muhammad Shoaib in the chair.

The committee members observed that frequent changes in freight rates of fruit and vegetables during their seasons of harvest and exports brought on problems for exporters.

It urged the PIA to announce its freight rates before Jan 31 every year which should be effective for mango export from May 1 to Sept 30 without any further changes.

The committee underlined the need to improve fruit marketing to avoid glut of the fruit due to the increased production in the wake of research which had enhanced the productivity of orchards. To evolve a marketing mechanism, the committee would hold a meeting with exporters in January.

Exporters were suggested to procure fruit direct from the orchards instead of buying from the markets for this would not only reduce their procurement price but also enable them to have fresh mangoes.

Opposing growers’ demand to facilitate them so that they could themselves export the fruit, it said that growers could not market their produce properly in local and international markets due to their lack of knowledge and competency.

The committee members also appreciated the research work being carried out at the Shujabad Mango Research Station. They however expressed their dissatisfaction over the performance of its extension wing in spreading the valuable research to growers.

They urged the provincial government to provide more facilities at the station so that the researchers could produce even better results.

The government should give the selling rights of fruit produced at the station orchards to the research station management instead of allocating separate funds for operational expenses and carrying out a lengthy procedure to dispose of its production, it suggested.

Talking to Dawn, the committee chairman said the station needed more researchers and field staff besides at least two more telephone lines for online consultation facility through internet at the station.

The meeting was also attended by mango growers, officials of horticulture and extension wings of the provincial agriculture department.

INDUSTRIAL HOMES: The local district government will set up industrial homes in Multan Saddar, Shujabad and Jalalpur Pirwala tehsils at a cost of Rs6 million.