KARACHI: Amid fluctuations in domestic rates, the country’s vegetable exports hit an all-time high of 1.336 million tonnes in FY23 from 939,714 tonnes in FY22.

However, a jump of 42 per cent in export volumes failed to fetch handsome foreign exchange which shrank by 3 per cent to $300 million in FY23 from $310m in FY22 mainly due to a drop in average per tonne price (APT) to $224.6 from $329, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.

As onion and potato hold a major share in exports, the price trend of both commodities showed a mixed trend in the outgoing fiscal year.

The national average price (NAP) of potatoes based on the country’s various cities soared to Rs60-140 per kg during June from Rs25-70 in the same month of 2022. However, the NAP of onion slightly eased to Rs50-90 per kg in June from Rs66-100 in the same month last year. Commonwealth Independent States, Russia, the Far East, and the Middle East were the main buyers of potatoes, while onions were being shipped to the Far East.

Pakistan imported over 150,000 tonnes of onion (by sea and by land route) at a rate of $300 per tonne from September 2022 to February as flash floods in Sindh and Balochistan destroyed onion crops in August 2022.

Other items of export include green chillies, bitter gourd, sweet gourd, apple gourd, lady finger, etc.

Though tomato is not exported, its retail rate in Karachi has swelled to Rs200 per kg from Rs100 a week back.

Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market President Haji Shahjehan said the new tomato crop of Balochistan is feeding the entire country after the end of the Sindh crop while small quantities from Kabul and Iran are also being managed to bridge the demand and supply gap.

He said Balochistan’s new onion crop’s wholesale rate is Rs1,700 per 40 kg while rain-hit crop sells between Rs1,000-1,200 per 40 kg. Potatoes are arriving from Punjab’s cold storage.

The retail price of onion in Karachi has fallen to Rs40-60 per kg from Rs70-80 per kg, while white and red potatoes are available at Rs90-100 per kg.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023