ISLAMABAD, May 18: Separate drafts of horticulture and agri-business policies for the four provinces, AJK, Fata and Fana have been prepared under the Rs4 billion Asian Development Bank-sponsored Agri-business Development and Diversification project.

The draft policies are likely to be sent to provincial governments and administrations of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Federally Administered Northern Areas (Fana) and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) in a week for possible changes and proposals, officials told Dawn.

Under the project, separate horticulture and agri-business policies are being proposed for each province and other areas which seek some drastic changes in the existing legislation to introduce various mechanisms at the grass-roots level to help Pakistani fruit and vegetables to gain a foothold in world’s leading markets by following certain standards.

The draft policy for Fata seeks extension of the Seed Act to tribal areas where some regions like the violence-hit Wana have considerable potential for fruit and vegetables.

So far, the Seed Act has no access to Fata, and farmers there are deprived of certified good quality seeds.

The reason behind separate horticulture and agri-business policies is said to be weather patterns, crop seasons and legal structure of the different regions.

Project Director Akram Khalid told Dawn that every area needed a different approach because of nature of problems and potentials.

He said a national task force would be set up after the provincial policies were finalised to introduce a national agri-business and horticulture policy at the central level.

He said under the project about 25,000 small farmers would be trained in value addition and good agriculture practices.

He said the project would also help farmers to have easy access to markets.

The Asian share in the world’s agricultural exports has expanded over the past decade with China, Malaysia, Thailand and India taking the lead.

Pakistan’s share, on the contrary, has declined because of little or low value addition compared to other regional producers which have improved product technology and focused on value addition.

Agricultural exports from Pakistan have registered a decline or stagnated even in fresh fruits, due to its inability to meet the quality demand of the international market set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), particularly in packing, marketing and production techniques.

Pakistan is the fourth largest exporter of dates. However, it exports only 13 per cent of its production.

It is the sixth largest exporter of mangoes, but exports only 2.2 per cent of production.

Some high-value vegetables are produced in the country throughout the year.

However, vegetable export from Pakistan is not in sync with its production capabilities.

The country is the fifth largest producer of milk, but only a little over three per cent of milk is processed in the country.

There is a huge demand for Pakistani meat in countries with large Muslim population, but the country is unable to meet the demand of even its own population.

“There is definitely high growth potential in value addition in all these products,” Mr Khalid said.

Under the project, six banks have been identified which will provide loan to farmers.