Pakistan: Kinnow quality needs improvement to attract EU markets

Fruit blemishes in Pakistani Kinnow are one of the main causes impeding its exports to the world market, particularly to the European Union, experts said. “Cosmetic look of the fruit is a very important factor affecting consumer choice in the market and attractive, blemish-free fruits are desired by the international customers,” said Azam Ishaque Chaudhry, Director, Harvest Tradings. Cosmetic appearance of Pakistani fruit needs to be improved to enhance its exports, he said, and highlighted the importance of resorting to technical knowledge, proper production practices and post-harvest handling and storage techniques.

Citrus, the premier fruit crop is grown in more than 100 countries of the world across the six continents with annual production of 105 million tons, he told APP, adding Brazil is the largest citrus producer (20 percent share), followed by the United States (14 percent share) and China (12 percent share) and Pakistan ranks 13th in the world. Chaudhry explained that unfortunately, Pakistani kinnow has no access to the supermarkets of Europe and other advanced countries due to high quality standards. Morphologically, the blemishes are collapsed hypodermis tissues related to shrunken or destroyed oil glands, he said, adding that studies have helped explore the nature and extent of fruit blemishes with reference to the position of fruit in tree canopy. The major cause of fruit blemish in kinnow is the wind, followed by peel miners, scales, fungi and the citrus canker.

Chaudhry said that it was observed that blemished fruit comes from all orchards, with varying degrees of fruit blemishes, caused by different factors. Currently, a larger study is already under progress at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, in which, monitoring of the whole crop cycle will be documented in association with the biotic and abiotic factors involved in causing fruit blemishes, he said.

Source: thenews.com.pk