One of the ways to alleviate poverty is through horticulture. When barrages were built around one to two per cent area was considered for horticulture, definitely a short-sighted planning. Planners were the British, and we the beginners. The British were planning to feed people with rice, wheat, sugarcane; produce cotton for textiles, and some fruits and vegetables for the middle-class South Asians.

Did we ever plan for horticulture? No, because this had not been our priority. Our priorities have not changed. We still want to grow more wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane. For wheat and rice, we fix the support prices less than those prevalent in India, Afghanistan and Iran - the three countries to which our grains, specially, wheat is smuggled into.

With low prices, the farmer is forced to reduce inputs and consequently lower the yield per acre. It results in import of wheat. We have neither understood the uniqueness of our climate nor advantages it offers.

We are located between 24th to 36xN. California leads the world in horticulture and most of its fruit production is between 32-40xN in the USA. Florida, only second to California lies between 24-30xN. In Australia, the Queensland, Northern Territory, the Western Australia, and the NSW are leading states or provinces for fruit production lying between 11x and 35xS and they are aggressively promoting horticulture.

In Africa, the Union of South Africa is leading horticultural producer. It lies between 22x to 34xS. Among the developed countries Israel lies between 28x-32xN and is an exporter of fruits and flowers to Europe.

Among the developing countries we have Mexico, Thailand and the Philippines. Mexico has progressed better the other two as it lies between 13x and 30xN. It is tropical and subtropical and not temperate. Mexico has 50 million acres of cropped area out of which 6.0 million acres are under horticulture crops i.e., 13.2 per cent, while the percentage is increasing.

The impact of these 6.6 million acres is that it fetches $7 billion, annually against $10 billion fetched by 44.6 million acres i.e., about 20 per cent. Have we thought about it? By comparison an acre under horticulture fetches $1060, but other crops fetch only $224 per acre.

Mexico does have humid tropics to south-east and dry subtropics to its north-west. They are taking full advantage of their climate.

Of 45 institutions offering degrees in agriculture in Mexico, 16 award BSc, MSc and Ph.D in horticulture. Again out of these 16 years, 13 offer MSc and 9 Ph.D. degrees. Further to this out of 16 institutes, 15 offer free education to Mexicans up to Ph.D level. We produce PhDs, but have we ever checked that many M.Sc and Ph.D degrees are bought i.e., candidates who do not work and teachers write thesis for them for some fees. This is specially so after the government has made the Ph.D degree compulsory for promotion beyond the Assistant Professor.

Horticulture research in Mexico is carried out by the universities, research centres, horticultural laboratories and the research departments of commercial companies and growers' associations. Commercial companies also offer agriculture extension services. All horticultural institutes have their own experimental stations and laboratories.

Horticultural extension work is carried out by the universities, research institutes, commercial companies and private organizations of repute. Research, extension and education is also allowed in private sector. Competition is so great that the government employees work hard to develop reputation, to be taken up in private sector at better salaries and terms.

Mexico produces 34 important vegetable crops of which we can produce all except, cassava. They also produce some vegetables organically and we can do the same. They produce tropical and subtropical fruits and we can produce most of them like, banana, mango, orange, lemon, papaya, guavas, grape fruit, coconut, tamarind, tangerine, litchi (lychee), lime, cheremoy, atemoya etc., but we cannot produce cashew. We can grow avadaco, pitaya nanche and mamey in some areas of Sindh but not in other areas. We can grow longan in the whole of Sindh.

We can also grow cashew, pineapple and coconut in the coastal areas. We have well defined temperate zone in hilly areas, where like Mexico we can raise grapes, apple, pear, apricot, peach, plum, pecan nut, strawberry, raisin, quince, medlar, pistachio, almond, cherry, and etc. Mexico also grows low chill apples, peaches, plums, apples, and apricots in hot subtropics of north-west. We have grown these in Sindh conditions.

Mexico also exports flowers, most of which we grow in Pakistan though on a small scale. In 1990s Egypt found that the export of flowers to Europe makes more money than fruits, so they started to change from fruiticulture to floriculture, at a short notice, but with the warning that the situation can reverse and only unproductive orchard may be replaced with flowers first. Woody ornamental was another major item of exports surpassing even flowers in Mexico.

Medicinal and aromatic crops is another item of exports from Mexico with basils accounting for 36 per cent and pepper 21 per cent. Mexico being close to the US does have ready made market for vegetables, which are economical to produce in Mexico on cheap labour. On the other hand, the US produces large quantities of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate fruits at very cheap rates, due to high technology, less labour, very high yields, and therefore, import of fruits from Mexico is limited only to tropical and sub-tropical fruits in terms.

Of Mexican agriculture sector vegetables account for 21 per cent, tropical and subtropical fruits 12 per cent, temperature fruits 4 per cent, medicinal plants 2 per cent, ornamental 2 per cent and all other crop 59 per cent.

Of the vegetable exports from Mexico to the US, top 10 accounting $1.8 billion are: tomato 37.5 per cent, cucumber 17.7 per cent, watermelon 11.2 per cent, melon 9.6 per cent, squash bellpepper 9.2 per cent, and broccoli, lettuce, asparagus eggplants and all others 14.8 per cent. This is an examples of exports of vegetable markets abroad and we can concentrate on these crops.

Off the fruits exported, grapes lead followed by mango, as these are not grown on the scale, needed in the US. In 2002 Mexico exported grapes worth $200 million and mangoes $81 million. Mexico is an example of production of fruits vegetables flowers, ornamental and herbs for export.