Potato is one of the relatively few crops for which Pakistan is not only self-sufficient in terms of internal consumption and seed production but also an exporter. Potato to boost Pakistan’s vegetable exports.
Thanks to robust potato shipments, Pakistan’s total vegetable exports increased by 90% in quantity and 57% in value in the first four months of the current fiscal year.
“Vegetables were exported every year depending on their availability but potato and onion hold a big share. A bumper potato crop has proved highly helpful in offsetting the falling exports of onion,” said Waheed Ahmed, Patron-in-Chief of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA).
Potato to boost Pakistan’s vegetable exports. Last year, floods in Sindh and Balochistan damaged onion crops, while potato production skyrocketed to 7.937 million tonnes in FY22 from 5.873 million tonnes in FY21, up by 35% as floods did not hit Punjab, which is a powerhouse of potato production.
However, the industry is still facing a lot of challenges. “Potato is not a crop for poor people because its initial cost of production is high. Some 35-40% of the cost goes to seeds,” said Syed Ijazul Hassan, Director of the Potato Research Institute.
The article originally appeared on the China Economic Net.
