ISLAMABAD: The competitiveness support fund (CSF), in collaboration with the government under the Sindh Development Fund, introduced three new varieties of Pakistani dates in the Turkish market. The fund is also exploring the Turkish packaging and processing system to identify any possible markets for the Pakistani dates and value-added date products, said CSF statement on Saturday.

 

The Pakistani date varieties from Sindh were processed on the Turkish equipment for extracting concentrate (juice) from the fruit. A detailed analysis of the concentrate will be carried out in order to explore the possibility of making the value added products like vinegar from Sindhi dates, it added.

 

Pakistan is among the top five date producers in the world adding that currently some 250 thousand metric tonnes of dates are produced in Khairpur district in Sindh alone every year. Of these 85 per cent are of the Aseel and Karbala variety. Pakistan mainly exports fresh dates to Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the US and the UK.

 

The dried dates are exported to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India and Japan. The three date varieties from Pakistan are introduced in Turkey during a recent visit by a delegation of date growers, processors and exporters from Sukkur and Khairpur.

During their visit which was arranged by CSF, the Pakistani delegation visited farms, factories and distributors from Izmir to Antalya.