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News: Committee on horticulture
sector submits its findings: Multiple factors responsible
for lacklustre performance of horticulture industry Staff Report ISLAMABAD: The second meeting of the task force on horticulture, finance and competitiveness (TFHF&C) was held today at the Ministry of Finance. Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Economic Affairs, Revenue and Statistics, Dr Salman Shah chaired the meeting. Dr Shah emphasised the importance of the private sector, including the commercial banks, as key players in the development of the horticulture sector and said that there must be a holistic, integrated and coordinated approach based on leadership by key agencies for the uplift of this sector. The task force decided that an implementation committee would be formed and chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MINFAL) The implementation committee would then form operational sub-committees chaired by the secretaries of relevant line ministries. The sub-committees are production, processing and marketing; quality, standards and regulations; infrastructure; and horti-business finance. Speaking on the occasion, CEO of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), Arthur Bayhan informed the task force that, each sub-committee reported their findings to the implementation committee, which are reflected in the final report made to the task force on 12th September 2007. He also said “the lacklustre performance of horticulture industry is due to a multitude of factors. CSF brought these to the attention of the Government of Pakistan which has emphasised the need for swift corrective action”. The CSF made a presentation to the task force members and briefed them on the findings of the four sub-committees. Mr Geoffrey Quartermaine Bastin, Senior Advisor to the CSF informed the members that the sub-committee on production, processing marketing (SC-P) identified the major issues to be inadequate institutional mechanisms to support the industry and to allow the technical solutions to be understood and implemented. The SC-P has recommended adopting an integrated approach to the total management of all sectors of this industry; establishing priority production “zones” and products for development and providing incentives for investment in post harvest handling and processing; and improvement in human capacity. Highlighting the recommendations of the sub-committee on quality (SC-Q), Bastin, said that there is a need to rationalise and utilise existing quality control laboratories, set up labs in the production areas, revise laws applying to food standards and more coordination of work that various agencies involved in food health and safety are currently undertaking. Chairman of the sub-committee on infrastructure (SC-I), Mushtaq Malik, Secretary Board of Investment, identified lack of infrastructure, poor logistics especially cold storage, refrigerated transport and sea and air cargo, and insufficient processing capacity to deal with second and third grade fruits as the main infrastructure issues. The recommendations from the SC-I include the development of a geographical information system (GIS), and undertaking an action plan for transport interventions and investment in an integrated cool chain including building cold storage/controlled atmosphere at key airports. The sub-committee on finance (SC-F), chaired by Javed Malik, Additional Secretary Ministry of Finance, also recommended basic guidelines for the banking sector. A public awareness campaign and workshops for training bankers to understand the industry issues were recommended. The SC-F identified that the provision of collateral was essential, where it may not be possible to borrow against the future, but on the value of a crop. Access to finance is a key issue and almost 80 percent of the small farmers are excluded from the formal banking system. A need for insurance; both for production and export has also been identified as a critical element to improve the competitiveness of the sector. The sub-committees have also suggested that the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board should be made an independent body under Section 42 of the Companies’ Ordinance. It also recommended that National Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (NAPHIS) should be restructured as an autonomous agency empowered to enforce the law. The implementation committee emphasised that product quality as per international quality standards and effective accreditation and certification mechanisms including pre-shipment inspection are critical areas for horticulture development in the country. Dr. Salman Shah in his concluding remarks told the sub-committees that they have to adopt a two pronged strategy: firstly, the quality of produce both for the domestic and international market should be improved, by adopting good agricultural practices including disease-free planting materials and enforcing grades and quality standards, branding etc. through pre-shipment inspection especially in case of exports; and secondly, to diversify product range. Dr Shah also tasked the implementation committee to come up with at least two major processing projects to be developed in the production and processing areas, where entrepreneurs can approach the banks for financing. He also asked that at least three projects should be submitted to the task force in terms of Infrastructure development. Dr Shah put special emphasis on the establishment of wholesales markets in major cities as mega projects as well. The Punjab Agriculture Marketing Company (PAMCO) will be coming up with a few projects on identified initiatives. The sub-committee on quality was asked to work with Ministries of Health, Finance, MINFAL and Planning Commission to work on the food safety laws. Identifying the role of the banking sector, Dr Shah asked the banks and other financial institutions to look at the three aspects of the financing i.e. production/farmer, export and projects. |
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