ASHS 2015 Annual Conference

The horticulture industry and its allied subsectors are among the largest contributors to the economy of Pakistan, providing employment to both the rural and urban population of the country. Pakistan produces 6.9 million tons of fruit and 8.1 million tons of vegetable annually. A large portion of these fruits and vegetables are sold locally. The international trade of processed fruits and vegetables has almost doubled in the past 10 years, but due to poor quality and lack of food hygiene standards, Pakistan has not been able to avail this immense export opportunity and, so far, only small quantities of processed fruit and vegetable products are being exported—mainly to the Middle East, Russia, CIS, Africa, and wet market of EU countries. Government institutions and in particular Ministry of Food Security and Research (MFSR) should monitor and regulate the process of implementation of international standards for the compliance to sanitary and phytosanitary measures to meet the country specific requirements as such to facilitate the export from Pakistan.