NA body seeks PFVA inputs

KARACHI: The National Assembly’s Special Committee on Agriculture Products in its last week’s meeting sought inputs from stakeholders to boost fruit and vegetable exports, an industry official said on Monday.

It was started by Waheed Ahmed, the Patron-in-Chief of the All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA). The recommendations, to be submitted in a month’s period, would then be reviewed by the committee during its next session, he added.

He said the meeting of the Special Committee of National Assembly on Agriculture Products was chaired by Malik Muhammad Ahsan Tiwana, while Dr Fahmeeda Mirza, the minister for interprovincial coordination, was also present on the occasion.

According to Ahmed, he briefed the meeting about the issues highlighted in the Horticulture Vision – 2030 a roadmap, developed by the PFVA through an extensive consultation with all the stakeholders.

He told the committee the agriculture sector was confronted with numerous serious challenges including climate change, lack of research & development, low production due to primitive harvesting methods, pre- and post-harvest losses, low quality or non-availability of new varieties, inefficient supply chain and high freight cost.