Pakistan Citrus Industry Challenges: Opportunities for Australia-Pakistan collaboration in Research, Development & Extension

PREPARED BY DR GREG JOHNSON

HORTICULTURE 4 DEVELOPMENT

Citrus Industry Survey and Workshops, Pakistan, July 2006

This report details the outcomes and recommendations of a Pakistan citrus industry visit, conducted as part of the Agriculture Sector Linkages Program (ASLP) between Australia and Pakistan.

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HORTICULTURE 4 DEVELOPMENT

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Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................................... 1

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 7

METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................................ 9

1. SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS AND PLANNING.............................................................................................. 9 2. VISITS TO CITRUS ORCHARDS, PROCESSORS, PACKHOUSES, MARKETS AND R & D INSTITUTIONS. ............. 10 3. WORKSHOPS ON CITRUS R, D&E IN PAKISTAN & AUSTRALIA .................................................................. 10 4. DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS ANALYSIS AND SCOPING VISIT FINDINGS TO DEVELOP

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSION (R, D & E) NEEDS. ................. 10

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................... 11

1. DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT INDUSTRY STATUS AND AVAILABLE INFORMATION. .. 11 3. GROWER MINI-WORKSHOP AND INDUSTRY WORKSHOP ........................................................................... 16 4. ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS. ................................................................................... 18 5. R, D & E ISSUES THAT COULD BE SUPPORTED UNDER ASLP. .................................................................... 18 6. PROPOSED PROJECT. .................................................................................................................................. 24

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................ 26

BIBLIOGRAPHY. .............................................................................................................................................. 27

APPENDIX 1 CITRUS INDUSTRY PAKISTAN ITINERARY AND WORKSHOP PROGRAMS..... 29

APPENDIX 2 AUSTRALIAN CITRUS FAMILIARISATION TOUR REPORT (10-20 MAY, 2006) - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 36

ACIAR WRAP-UP WORKSHOP IN SYDNEY ........................................................................................................ 37 IMPRESSIONS/LEARNING FROM THE FAMILIARISATION TOUR (PAKISTAN DELEGATES) ..................................... 37 RECOMMENDATIONS, FOLLOW-UP, FEEDBACK AND PAKISTAN INDUSTRY KEY ISSUES AND CONSTRAINTS ..... 38

APPENDIX 3 BACKGROUND: PAKISTAN INDUSTRY STATUS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES 41

APPENDIX 4 OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON NURSERY PRACTICE, CROP PRODUCTION, IRRIGATION AND CROP PROTECTION IN PAKISTAN CITRUS52

CITRUS NURSERY AND CROP MANAGEMENT – OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................... 52 IRRIGATION OF CITRUS IN PAKISTAN – OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 56 PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT: OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................... 62

APPENDIX 5 PAKISTAN CITRUS INDUSTRY - CONSTRAINTS ANALYSIS AND SCOPING VISIT, JULY 2006 - NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ...................................................... 71

APPENDIX 5 A NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................. 71 APPENDIX 5 B INFORMATION ON EXTERNALLY FUNDED PROJECTS RELEVANT TO THE CITRUS INITIATIVE. . 86

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Scoping Visit Report

Executive Summary

A Pakistan citrus industry constraints analysis and project scoping visit was undertaken during July 2006, as an agreed activity of the Australia-Pakistan Agricultural Sector Linkage Program (ASLP). A team of 5 Australian citrus R & D specialists, one industry-nominated Australian citrus grower, the ACIAR Horticulture Program Manager, and the ASLP Program Officer participated, while several Pakistani colleagues contributed to planning the activities and/or joined in various activities. The visit had been preceded in May 2006 by an Australian Industry study tour for 11 Pakistan industry representatives, to obtain insights into the Australian industry, to present an overview of their industry to Australian counterparts and set the scene for the activities reported here.

The objectives of the industry assessment and project scoping visit were:

(i) To assess opportunities and productivity constraints in the Pakistan citrus industry, focussing particularly on the Kinnow mandarin industry in the Sargodha District of the Punjab, and the blood orange industry of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

(ii) To identify (R, D & E) issues that could be addressed through subsequent activities funded under the ASLP.

Key elements of the activities were:

(i) Documentation of the current industry status and available information.

(ii) Six days of field visits to farms, markets, processors and exporters and R & D agencies in Islamabad and Faisalabad, and the citrus production regions1 of the Sargodha District of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province.

(iii) A 1-day grower mini-workshop in Sargodha and a 2-day industry priority workshop in Islamabad.

(iv) Detailed assessment of the background information, workshop outcomes and industry visit findings, to develop recommendations for future R, D & E needs.

The documentation of the industry status provided insights into opportunities and constraints, existing knowledge and information gaps on citrus industry science and management practices in Pakistan, and current and proposed projects that ASLP initiatives would complement. The industry visits and workshop gave the team broad exposure to key R, D & E providers and the citrus sector in Pakistan and insights into opportunities and constraints to productivity. Recommendations on future R, D and E needs were developed through detailed assessment of background information, workshop outcomes and industry visit findings.

The workshops and background material also highlighted several overarching structural/policy issues affecting the industry that were beyond the scope of the

1 Mangoes, peaches, grapes and apricots (but not mandarin (Kinnow)) were in season at the time of the visits.

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ASLP. It was agreed that ongoing attention to these issues by Pakistan would enhance the impact and achievements of the contributions proposed under ASLP.

Objective (i) Assessment of opportunities and productivity constraints in the Pakistan citrus industry.

Key opportunities for the Pakistan Industry: • Further development of export markets particularly those in the Middle East,

South East Asia, China and Central Asia.

• Further development of the domestic market as supply chains and supermarkets and rail and road infrastructure develop.

• Expansion of market-led opportunities by extending the production season, improving quality management and value adding and processing.

Key constraints for the Pakistan Industry: • Challenging agri-ecological conditions – high summer temperatures, alkaline

soils, low organic matter and saline water – All hamper productivity/contribute to tree decline,

• Inefficient production and irrigation practices – production < 50% of Australian yields,

• Declining profitability due to overproduction and low tree yields – high postharvest losses (40%) and low proportion of first grade fruit (<30%)

• Deficiencies in revitalisation strategies – unreliable germplasm, cultivar seediness, inadequate disease and pest management strategies contribute to reduced productivity and losses and current strategies are inadequate.

• Huanglongbing (HLB: citrus greening disease), bacterial canker, phytophthora gummosis and nematodes are associated with dieback and tree debilitation and are not adequately understood or controlled.

• Labour shortages – innovation in technology and labour use is needed.

• Difficulties in meeting Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and Sanitary-Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements of high-end markets – innovation in crop husbandry and pest/disease management is needed.

• Farmer illiteracy and deficiencies in information access and dissemination – Innovation and broadening of farmer training is needed.

Objective (ii) Identification of (R, D & E) issues that could be addressed through subsequent activities funded under the ASLP.

Like Pakistan, the Australian industry faces critical challenges, particularly in managing water use, sustainably maintaining productivity and accessing markets. Consideration of the background information and the findings and recommendations of industry visits, workshops and the constraints analysis, has highlighted priorities and identified options for addressing some within an ASLP project, to deliver significant benefits to the Pakistan and Australian industries. Recommendations 1 to 7 highlight priority issues and recommendation 8 suggests how an ASLP project could help address them.

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Recommendation 1. Pakistan should continue to address the policy/high level issues that hamper progress and improvement of the industry.

1.1. Promote a market-driven approach by government and other stakeholders to industry innovation,

1.2. Improve and promote active legislation at federal and provincial levels to underpin key elements of industry biosecurity and improvement.

1.3. Develop a knowledge management approach within R & D, extension and education agencies to improve uptake and dissemination of innovations.

1.4. Actively foster co-ordination and collaboration across governments, agencies and supply chain sectors.

These issues are largely outside the scope of ASLP resources but some targeted support may be appropriate.

Recommendation 2. Analysis and improvement of the product, people and financial elements of the supply chain will enhance market development and profitability.

2.1. Enhance market intelligence gathering and analysis to underpin the implementation of a ‘market-driven’ industry development strategy.

2.2. Develop Quality Assurance and Food Safety standards and practical implementation strategies as overarching requirements for market development.

2.3. Extend harvest times and identify/match product demand windows.

2.4. Improve orchard, postharvest, transport and marketing practices/technologies.

2.5. Foster training and capacity building throughout the supply chain and improve extension, communication and industry linkages.

2.6. Promote the development of a dynamic industry structure.

Other major donor support is focussing on these issues. ASLP support for mango supply chain R & D (PLIA/205/159) will deliver spill over benefits to the citrus industry. ASLP citrus support could focus on production and extension/training elements of this area in partnership with the Pakistan Horticultural Export Development Board and the Fruit and Vegetable Development Project.

Recommendation 3. Give priority attention to enhancing access for farmers to improved germplasm and disease-free certified planting material that are essential for industry revitalisation.

3.1 Eliminate nursery practices that favour disease spread.

o Australia has ‘best practice models’ for these schemes.

3.2 Introduce and evaluate new germplasm and rootstocks.

3.3 Use Australian expertise in heat unit modelling to select cultivars most suited to growing conditions.

ASLP citrus initiatives could provide targeted support in this area.

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Recommendation 4. Introduce innovative orchard management practices to improve yields, extend the productive life of trees and enhance water and labour use.

4.1. Assess innovations in tree planting and management (closer spacing, raised beds, move away from intercropping, tree pruning, crop regulation, nutrition, fruit thinning, pruning).

4.2. Trial alternatives to whole of paddock flood irrigation (furrow, mini-sprinklers, drip systems).

4.3. Trial management options for improving rind quality and reducing blemish.

ASLP citrus initiatives could contribute significantly to this area.

Recommendation 5. Improve focus and uptake of pest and disease management systems to extend the productive life of trees, enhance yield and reduce chemical use

5.1. Determine the main causes of dieback (citrus decline) and develop control options.

5.2. Demonstrate ‘best practice’ strategies for minimising the occurrence of citrus leafminer and citrus canker in nurseries and orchards.

5.3. Capitalise on the Farmer Field School approach to control of fruit flies and other pests and reduce fruit damage and trial use of Grower Groups (Cittgroups).

5.4. Assess the potential of interplanting with guava as a means of minimising the incidence of huanglongbing (HLB) and its vector, the Asiatic citrus psyllid, in orchards.

ASLP citrus initiatives could contribute significantly to this area.

Recommendation 6. Enhance resourcing and innovation in extension systems to improve delivery and uptake of effective innovations by farmers and traders.

6.1. Capitalise on synergies* with ALP2 funded activities, the Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project3 and other national and provincial initiatives4, to build capacity and revitalise extension approaches.

6.2. Strengthen linkages between growers, researchers and extension.

6.3. Foster citrus industry associations and technical forums.

2 US funded Agriculture Linkages Program (see Appendix 4). 3 According to the ADB loan proposal (4/2005), the project will focus on horticultural crops including citrus - increasing productivity, product quality, and value adding by removing constraints facing agribusiness that occur throughout the product value chain from production and input supply, to processing and exports. 4 Such as the Fruit and Vegetable Development Project Punjab Umbrella PC-1.

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ASLP Citrus initiatives could contribute significantly to other parallel-funded work* in this area.

Recommendation 7. Target capacity building activities to underpin R, D & E initiatives, information use and industry development.

7.1. Develop R & D capacity as there is a lack of capacity in research and extension

7.2. Capitalise on Farmer Field School initiatives to enhance skills development with growers.

Key areas for attention in capacity building:

• Supply Chain analysis and improvement,

• Germplasm clean-up and planting material selection,

• Orchard management systems,

• Pests and disease diagnosis and management,

• Enhancing the effectiveness of extension through farmer groups,

• Sourcing and presenting information for farmers and extension personnel.

ASLP initiatives could provide targeted capacity building and provide significant backup to other major funding initiatives (mentioned in recommendation 6.1).

Recommendation 8. Develop an ACIAR project and other ASLP activities focussing on the issues identified in this report’s recommendations 3 to 7, to deliver lasting benefits for the citrus industries in Pakistan and Australia.

8.1 A strategically focussed approach is proposed to dovetail with other current and planned initiatives and capitalise on existing technologies and information.

8.2 The suggested aim of an ASLP citrus project, “Development of integrated crop management practices to increase sustainable yield and quality of citrus in Pakistan and Australia” (HORT/2005/160 is:

To enhance the sustainable production of high quality citrus fruit in Australia and Pakistan and build capacity to undertake integrated and targeted research, development and extension activities.

Specific objectives and anticipated outcomes:

Objective 1. To enhance national germplasm introduction and evaluation and improve nursery stock production systems, focussing on disease-freedom, cultivar integrity, micro-environment and root stock selection.

Suitable germplasm sourced and evaluated using heat unit modelling, to select best options for field/postharvest assessment,

‘Best practice’ options for nursery certification and production schemes developed and trailed with private sector partners and emphasis on ‘value adding’ to existing initiatives.

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Capacity building and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 2. To improve productivity by better orchard husbandry and water management focussing on tree spacing, crop management, nutrition and irrigation.

Initial supply chain analysis exposes researchers to industry issues and identifies production system impacts on postharvest quality and marketing.

In partnership with Farmer Field School initiatives, ‘Best Practice’ demonstration blocks established and assessed by farmers,

Production manuals revised, ‘road-tested’ and published, Skills and technical information transferred and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 3. Enhance management of citrus pests and disease, focussing on control of huanglongbing (HLB: citrus greening), phytophthora gummosis, bacterial canker and tree decline.

Confirmation of key factors causing citrus decline, Better integrated control strategies for HLB, phytophthora and canker, Pest and disease management guides revised and published, Skills and information transferred and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 4. To enhance the uptake and application of improved management systems, postharvest technology, new technologies and production skills.

Extension capacity and skills developed in ‘farmer-field school’ approaches, Alternative extension models (eg grower groups), Farmer-friendly extension resources.

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Background

The purpose of the Agriculture Sector Linkage Program (ASLP) is to build linkages between the agriculture sectors of Australia and Pakistan. Under a Record of Understanding (RoU) with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is managing and implementing the Agriculture and Linkages Program technical components. The main goals of the agriculture linkages component are:

1. To transfer Australian knowledge and expertise to key sectors of Pakistan agribusiness to increase profitability and enhance export potential.

2. To contribute to poverty alleviation of smallholder farmers through collaborative research and development.

3. To enhance the capacity of the Pakistan research, development and extension system to deliver targeted and practical research outputs to agribusiness and farmers.

Within the priority sectors of horticulture, mango and citrus were identified as commodities that will be addressed initially.

The mango and citrus industries are the most important horticultural tree crop industries, with Pakistan an important global producer and increasingly, an exporter. In 2004, total citrus production exceeded 1,670,000 tonnes (Table 1) with 95.5 per cent produced in the Punjab, 1.6 per cent in the Sindh and 2.2 per cent in the NWFP. A mandarin type, cv. Kinnow, dominates production, and together with another cultivar, Fewtrell, represents 80 percent of citrus grown in Pakistan. The cultivars were imported to Pakistan in 1940 - Kinnow from California and Feutrell from Australia. Kinnow mandarin is a hybrid resulting from a cross between King mandarin and Willowleaf (Mediterranean common) mandarin made in 1915 by Frost in California and released in 1935. Feutrell (the correct spelling is Fewtrell) is an old variety from New South Wales. It may be a natural tangor (mandarin x sweet orange), with Willowleaf as the mandarin parent. It is an early variety (Fewtrell's Early), while Kinnow is mid-season in maturity. Both Feutrell and Kinnow mandarins have a fairly strong tendency to alternate bearing and they have numerous seeds (quoted from Bove, 19955).

5 Bové, J.M. 1995. Virus and virus - Like diseases of citrus in the near east region. FAO http://www.fao.org/docrep/U5000E/U5000E00.htm

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Table 1. Citrus production (metric tonnes (MT)) in Australia & Pakistan

Year - 2002 2003 2004

Total - Australia 583,754 745,299 535,158

Total - Pakistan 1,701,000 1,760,000 1,670,000

Orange - Australia 450,559 599,484 395,164

Orange - Pakistan 1,190,000 1,232,000 1,169,000

Mandarin - Australia 78,079 98,343 100,959

Mandarin - Pakistan 443,000 458,000 434,000

FAOSTAT data, 2005, last updated February 2005 – relative quantities for orange and mandarin are at odds with Pakistan data which says that mandarin types predominate.

To meet the ASLP goals and priorities and to ensure the program delivers early impacts, the program has been configured into a flexible suite of short, medium and long term activities for the priority industries. These comprise:

• An initial short term scoping studies and constraints analysis,

• Agri-enterprise exposure and fact finding trips to Australia,

• Technical and scientific workshops,

• Tailored training and capacity building packages delivered in Pakistan and in Australia,

• 1-3 yr technical intervention and/or research and development project.

To address ASLP goals for citrus, an agri-enterprise exposure and fact-finding visit to Australia was organised for a delegation of 11 industry representatives during May 2006. This was followed in July 2006 by the scoping study and constraints analysis reported here. Prior to the citrus industry activities, the ASLP had commissioned two small research activities (SRA) to address opportunities for Australia-Pakistan collaboration on mango industry improvement6. The experience of the two mango SRAs influenced planning for the citrus scoping visit. It is also anticipated that the concurrent development of two ASLP projects focussing respectively on mango supply chain and crop improvement with Pakistan will have spill-over benefits in terms of capacity building and institutional funding for R & D and enhance implementation of the ASLP citrus initiatives.

The specific objectives of the citrus constraints analysis and scoping visit were:

(i) To assess opportunities and productivity constraints in the Pakistan citrus industry, focussing particularly on the Kinnow mandarin industry in the Sargodha District of the Punjab, and the blood orange industry of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

6 PLIA /2005/159 led by the University of Queensland undertook a preliminary constraints analysis of mango supply chain improvement in Pakistan and HORT/2005/153 led by QDPI & F assessed constraints to mango production in the Punjab and Sindh with a focus on disease and management practices that could improve productivity.

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(ii) To identify (R, D & E) issues that could be addressed through subsequent activities funded under the ASLP.

The citrus team were:

• Dr Greg Johnson Pathologist and Team Leader, Horticulture 4 Development, Canberra, ACT,

• Professor Andrew Beattie Citrus Pest and Disease Expert, University of Western Sydney (UWS), NSW,

• Mr Jeremy Giddings Irrigation Officer, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Dareton, NSW,

• Mr. Andrew Green Chief Executive Officer, Citrus Board of South Australia, Adelaide SA,

• Dr Tahir Khurshid Citrus Agronomist, Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (QDPI&F), Bundaberg, QLD,

• Mr Peter Walker Citrus Farmer, Exporter and Board Member of Horticulture Australia Ltd, Ramco, SA.

The program for the field visits and industry workshops is attached as Appendix 1. Program development and critical logistical support for the activities was undertaken by ACIAR (Mr. Les Baxter, Mr Sosheel Solomon, Mrs Betty Robertson) and a Pakistan organising committee (Mr. M. Hashim Lagheri, Dr. Aman Ullah Malik, Dr. Ahmad Saleem Akhtar and Mr. Allah Dad Khan), as well as several stakeholder groups in the Pakistan Citrus Industry. The Organising Committee also took part in selected activities of the scoping visit.

This report describes the findings of the constraints analysis and scoping study of the Pakistan citrus industry undertaken during July 2006. The report recommendations will be used in developing a R & D project to address key problems identified during the ASLP supported workshops and field visits and deliver benefits to Pakistan and Australia.

Methodology

1. Secondary data analysis and planning Prior to scoping visit to Pakistan, an overview and analysis of the Pakistan citrus industry based on published and web resources was prepared by the team leader. Additional background information on Pakistan, including a draft “Kinnow Export Development Strategy” prepared by the Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board (PHDEB), was collated by ACIAR and provided to team members along with the overview and program itineraries and workshop agendas. Team members and Pakistani delegates also prepared presentations for delivery at the grower workshop and industry workshop (program attached as Appendix 1).

While the scoping visit was being planned, a citrus industry exposure and fact-finding trip to Australia was organised by ACIAR and Dr Tahir Khurshid, in consultation with Australian industry personnel, and undertaken by 11 Pakistani industry personnel during May 2006. A half-day wrap-up meeting was held at the end of the visit to present overviews of the Australian and Pakistan industries and discuss key

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outcomes and potential areas of collaboration and contribute to the planning for the constraints analysis and scoping visit. The wrap-up meeting identified potential opportunities for the Pakistan Industry for collaboration in the ASLP and highlighted areas of mutual interest to the Australian industry. The report on the visit to Australia is attached as Appendix 2.

2. Visits to citrus orchards, processors, packhouses, markets and R & D institutions.

A program of field and industry/institution visits was conducted over 6 days to provide insights into

(i) Citrus production in North West Frontier Province and Sargodha District of the Punjab

(ii) Postharvest handling, packing and processing and marketing

(iii) National and Provincial Institutions and citrus R & D.

(iv) Other current/planned R & D.

3. Workshops on Citrus R, D&E in Pakistan & Australia A one-day mini-workshop for farmers and a two-day industry workshop were conducted in Sargodha and Islamabad respectively to bring together farmers, researchers and other stakeholders from Pakistan and Australia working in citrus research, extension and agri-business. The aims of the workshops were

(i) To build linkages between researchers, extension officers and agribusiness by sharing and jointly evaluating results and experiences in citrus industry development;

(ii) To clarify citrus research and development needs in partnership with relevant agencies for collaborative activities under the auspices of the ASLP and

(iii) To identify future capacity building and training needs in Pakistan citrus research, development and extension officers, as well as growers and agribusiness.

4. Detailed assessment of constraints analysis and scoping visit findings to develop recommendations for future Research, Development and Extension (R, D & E) needs.

Constraints Analysis. Assessment of opportunities and production constraints was undertaken by (i) Initial analysis of background information (ii) consideration of the suggestions arising from the Australian study visit wrap-up meeting (iii) assessment of orchard, pack-house, market and institutional visits, background briefing and discussions during field visits, (iv) discussion with senior personnel in the government and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), ACIAR and Australian High Commission personnel, the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and other institutions and (v) road-testing and discussion of priority issues/constraints at the Sargodha and Islamabad workshops.

Identification of Research, Development and Extension (R, D & E) issues. Recommendations for future R, D and E needs were developed through consideration of information and observations during the constraints analysis and

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inputs and discussion of issues and priorities at the Sargodha and Islamabad Workshops and in meetings with senior Pakistani and Australian personnel.

Findings and Recommendations

The background analysis, field and institutional visits and farmer and industry workshops together provided diverse and comprehensive insights into the Pakistan citrus industry. Figures 1 (left) and 2 (below) show locations visited in the citrus scoping study: Islamabad, Peshawar, Malakand, Mardan, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Bhalwal.

1. Documentation and analysis of the current industry status and available information.

Background documentation is attached as Appendix 3. The documentation of the industry status provided insights into opportunities and constraints, existing knowledge of citrus industry science and management practices in Pakistan

and current and proposed projects that ASLP initiatives would complement. The background analysis made 5 recommendations, which influenced the development of the scoping study terms of reference and itinerary and the selection of topics/speakers for the workshops. The background analysis recommendations are listed in Table 2 (over) along with comments (in italics) indicating how the scoping visit accommodated the recommendation.

The PHDEB draft ‘Kinnow export Development Strategy”7 was also reviewed and key priorities are attached as Table 3.

7 Copy on file at ACIAR.

Figure 2. Map showing North West Frontier Province and places visited.

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Table 2. Recommendations of the Background Analysis and Subsequent Actions/findings of scoping study.

(i) Given the documented low productivity of citrus in Pakistan, a starting point for the scoping visit would be to assess the key factors affecting productivity.

The scoping study identified key factors affecting production and marketing.

(ii) The scoping study should document export information including opportunities, challenges and threats.

The scoping study was briefed on key markets for Pakistan citrus and identified opportunities and challenges.

(iii) The scoping study should assess extension capacity and R & D links.

The scoping study engaged with extension agencies in NWFP and Sargodha District and obtained insights to current projects, Farmer Field Schools and research links and noted the importance of attention to socio-economic dimensions.

(iv) A scan of current trade and policy environment would be worthwhile.

Briefings were given to scoping study team and background information obtained/assessed. Team leader met with MINFAL WTO unit head.

(v) An audit of current processing uses and prospects for other uses would be worthwhile.

Scoping team visited major processor in Sargodha district and was provided with briefing material on processing status/prospects. Team also met with exporters.

Table 3. PHDEB Kinnow Export Development Strategy Key Priorities and Interventions.

Priorities.

Short term: Improve quality and product image

Medium term: Increase volume and improve quality.

Long term: Increase production and volume and Improve quality.

The Scoping team found that attention to preharvest factors affecting quality was a key priority as less than 30% of harvest fruit were of export quality.

Priority Interventions:

Concerted marketing campaign, development of umbrella brand

Formalisation of export sector (development of export houses, procedures)

Establishment of cool chain

Formation of horticultural marketing boards.

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2. Field visits to farms, markets, processors and exporters and R & D agencies in Islamabad and Faisalabad, and the citrus production regions8 of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province

The industry visits, presentations and discussions gave the team broad exposure to key R, D & E providers and the citrus sector in Pakistan, and further insights into opportunities and constraints to productivity. The team were also provided with a range of briefing material and publications during the field visits. A list of this material is listed in the report bibliography. Significantly, a number of institutional personnel provided briefing material that focussed on industry priorities and possible interventions for ASLP. Specific findings of the scoping study are summarised in Table 4. More detailed information on irrigation, crop improvement and crop protection is contained in summaries prepared by team members (Appendix 4). Observations and additional information on field and institutional visits and workshops are attached as Appendix 5.

Table 4. Key observations and findings of the ASLP citrus scoping study visits.

• Researchable issues for both NWFP and Punjab were similar (see opportunities/threats and workshop outcomes), so any ASLP activities could deliver benefit to both regions.

• NWFP climate is more suited to orange production than the Punjab, but general conditions are harsh – hot summers, water scarcity and dieback/disease problems that have led to the NWFP industry relocating from Malakand area to Mardan. The ASLP project could source suitable orange germplasm and rootstocks for NWFP.

• Orchards in Sargodha District were generally larger and better maintained than those in NWFP. Punjab has 94.5% of Pakistan’s citrus production. Summer growing conditions are extremely hot – cv. Kinnow is considered to be well adapted to these conditions c.f many other cultivars which have been screened over the last 30 years. Any ASLP supported introductions need therefore to target ‘climatic suitability’ using Australian expertise in heat unit modelling to identify cultivars that would be able to tolerate the climate of the Punjab.

• Most orchards have wide tree spacings and are ploughed regularly and intercropped (with wheat, cotton, cucurbits). Irrigation is mainly by flooding with water sourced from channels or underground. Saline water, low soil organic matter and high soil pH affect productivity. Support for crop and soil management and irrigation system improvement seems to be a priority. Australia also faces critical challenges in reducing water use and sustainably maintaining production.

• Access to improved/certified germplasm and improvement in crop and pest/disease management are needed by industry. Keeping nursery stock pathogen free will be a challenge and disease free stock is likely to be infected with HLB in the field unless field control strategies can be introduced. Australia has nursery certification schemes in place and although HLB and Bacterial canker

8 Mangoes, peaches, grapes and apricots (but not mandarin (Kinnow)) were in season at the time of the visits.

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are not present in Australia, there is a critical need to develop control strategies as part of biosecurity contingency planning.

• Some pack-houses have modern facilities but many are more basic. Exporters have difficulty sourcing adequate supplies of ‘export quality’ fruit. Preharvest management factors that affects postharvest quality need to be addressed. There is a need to update technology, and improve food safety and quality management. The Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project will deliver benefits in this area. Under ASLP some attention should be given to crop management factors that affect quality (such as thinning to increase fruit size, improving pest management to reduce damage).

• Wholesale markets are established in major cities – the Sargodha market had soundly constructed and laid out facilities – but general upkeep and maintenance and hygiene were low. Produce is sold at auction by commission agents. It was evident that there is considerable scope to improve handling, hygiene and storage at the domestic markets.

• There is an established citrus juice concentrate processing industry with export markets, and commercial interest in growth and diversification of processing. Innovation and expansion of the processing sector is needed but this would be beyond the scope of the ASLP resources.

• The Federal and Provincial governments are committed to meeting the legislative and regulatory requirements for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS Agreement) and trade provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). District governments also have a role. ASLP should focus on issues that help the citrus industry meet compliance requirements for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and SPS. Strategic interventions to strengthen policy development and implementation could also be warranted.

• There is strong government commitment and donor support for revitalisation of the citrus industry through improvement of infrastructure, investment in research facilities, necessary R, D & E and improvement of market access. Initiatives9 include:

o US funded endowment - Agriculture Linkages Program (ALP)10 providing targeted support for research in crop and social sciences and natural resource management (Appendix 5). The ASLP can help address critical priorities for the citrus industry that the ALP has not funded and it would be useful if an ASLP representative (e.g. Sosheel Solomon) participated in ALP review meetings).

o Agri-enterprise development support under an Asian Development Bank (ADB) soft-loan funded program. USAID are also developing an initiative in this area. It may be more critical for the ASLP mango supply chain project

9 More information on other funding initiatives is in Appendix 5. 10 In 2001, the United States Government donated wheat valued at US $ 23.2 million as a grant to the Government of Pakistan. The convents of the agreement provided that the local currency generated through the sale proceeds will be used to establish an “Agricultural Linkages Program” (ALP) for promoting research cooperation between Pakistan and the USA in the areas of agricultural sciences.

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rather than the ASLP citrus initiative to be the primary interface with these activities. The ASLP citrus project could seek targeted complementarity.

o Revitalisation of extension practices for the citrus industry under federal/provincial government initiatives that build on the farmer–field school (FFS) approach that was pioneered under FAO supported work on cotton IPM. ASLP should take part in this initiative to understand and determine opportunities for improvement.

o A citrus research centre, the Orange Research Institute is under construction in Sargodha District and the Punjab Minister for Agricultural Marketing, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, recently stated (8/2006) that an Agriculture Marketing Institute was to be established in Lahore. The ASLP citrus project should aim to work with ORI as one partner.

o Promotion of export market development - The Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board (PHDEB) have negotiated export protocols with Iran and China and expanding markets in Central Asia/Russia, Middle East and South East Asia. Exports exceeded 200,000 tonnes for first time in 2006. The ASLP could provide targeted training to benefit citrus and mango industries primarily within the ASLP mango supply chain initiative.

o United Nations Agencies (UNCTAD (with Min Commerce) and UNIDO with MINFAL)) have commissioned assessments of the regulatory aspects of Pakistan’s import and exports and made recommendations for followup. It is likely that the UN agencies will continue this support but targeted ‘workshop support’ by Australia could help broaden co-ordination.

ASLP initiatives will ‘make a difference’ if they aim to capitalise, complement and synergise with these initiatives.

Farm, market and packhouse visits. Visits to individual farms, to commercial packinghouses and to the Sargodha wholesale markets enabled the team to gain insights into production handling and marketing practices. Key observations are listed in Table 4. Additional information is contained in Appendix 5.

Institutional visits. Visits to national, international and provincial institutions involved in citrus R & D provided an overview of current work/focus and capabilities and facilitated networking which would underpin future collaboration. Appendix 5 summarises additional observations and information. The following notes indicate institutional links that would be useful in the ASLP citrus initiative.

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council – ASLP links and oversight, workshop committees.

National Agricultural Research Centre – Overall leadership of R & D project

– co-ordination of project inputs across agencies and links with other projects particularly the concurrent ASLP mango projects and the ADB Agribusiness project, the Punjab Agribusiness project and the ALP projects.

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• Co-ordination of germplasm screening and nursery certification

• Co-ordination of crop management and irrigation initiatives

• Development of crop protection strategies.

• Co-ordination of links with provincial research and extension agencies and CABI.

CABI – Farmer Field School links with Provincial Agriculture Extension Departments

Faisalabad Agricultural University – Research lead in citrus germplasm cleanup and nursery certification, leadership in postharvest evaluation of crop management impacts and new cultivars, facilitation of postgraduate student involvement and teaching module revision, workshop committee.

Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) – Evaluation, cleanup and release of existing low seeded clones of cv Kinnow.

Punjab and NWFP Agricultural Extension Departments – Leadership of Farmer field school approaches to crop improvement, irrigation and crop protection

The Orange Research Institute – Leadership in new cultivar and rootstock evaluation and crop management systems collaboration in crop protection, nursery stock certification,

Ayub Agricultural Research Institute - Collaboration in crop protection and postharvest research.

Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board – collaboration in postharvest R & D and training/capacity building.

3. Grower Mini-Workshop and Industry Workshop These activities provided a broader interface between the visiting team and Pakistan industry personnel.

Sargodha District Mini-Workshop. The purpose was to provide a wider forum for presentation of Australian approaches to citrus R & D to growers, to consider local approaches to R & D and to answer questions/discuss priorities with growers and local experts. It was a a gathering of local experts along with key growers from Sargodha and NWFP (approximately 50 Pakistani delegates), to discuss issues, constraints and exchange ideas on industry direction. Technical presentations focussed on overviews of the Pakistan and Australian industries from farmer and researcher perspectives, and a question and answer session that covered orchard and nursery management, pest and disease control, postharvest technology and market access and extension. Discussion was lively, and generally reinforced impressions gained during field and institutional visits.

The venue for the workshop was the upper level of Taste Restaurant in Bhalwal. Formal remarks at opening were by Mr Haroon Ihsan Piracha (Email: haroon_piracha@hotmail.com), Member of the National Assembly (and nephew of the District Nazim, Inam ul Haq Piracha). Despite some deficiencies in preparation of venue by the restaurant staff and some technical problems (Power Point operation, power failure), the workshop proceeded fairly well. The growers seemed most

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interested in the Australian presentations and opportunities to ask questions/raise priorities.

Islamabad Citrus Industry Workshop. This workshop on Citrus research, development and extension in Pakistan and Australia provided a forum in which to

• Formally present aspects of the Australian and Pakistani industry approaches to R, D & E to key industry stakeholders drawn from a wide spectrum of the industry, farmers, collectors, commission agents, exporters, processors, input suppliers, research extension and university personnel and government agencies

• Discuss and workshop key issues, possible R & D solutions and capacity building requirements and

• Present a summary of the scoping study conclusions to the Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL), the Australian High Commissioner and other senior government personnel.

Participants attending the workshop included 45 from Pakistan and 7 from Australia. A copy of the Workshop Programme is attached in Appendix 1. Presentations covered production, supply chain and marketing issues in more detail than the Sargodha workshop, and there were round-table discussion groups to define researchable/priority issues in crop management, irrigation, crop protection, supply chain and marketing and capacity building. The Workshop was held in function rooms at the Best Western Hotel in Islamabad and facilities and functions were good and arrangements proceeded smoothly.

The seating arrangement for the technical sessions of the workshop was banquet-style, with participants seating in round table groups, with no more than 10 people at a table. Participants were allocated to tables for day 1 so that each table had a broad spectrum of skills and knowledge represented. On day two, participants could choose the discussion table of interest with Australians chairing individual discussion tables – Les Baxter - Capacity Building and Extension; Andrew Beattie - Crop Protection; Andrew Green - Supply Chain; Tahir Khurshid and Peter Walker - Crop Production and Nursery practice and Jeremy Giddings - Irrigation.

The presentations were in general excellent – the program ran like clockwork and discussion and questions were generally good. Table discussion sessions went well and each group produced a summary presentation on priorities. Key priorities from the working groups were drawn upon to develop recommendations on priority issues/opportunities and to define options for research under an ASLP funded project.

The workshops and background material also highlighted several overarching structural/policy issues affecting the industry that were beyond the scope of the ASLP. It was agreed that ongoing attention to these issues by Pakistan would enhance the impact and achievements of the contributions proposed under ASLP.

On the last evening of the workshop, the Australian High Commissioner (H.E. Zorica McCarthy) hosted a reception at her residence. This provided an excellent opportunity to informally discuss the scoping visit findings with high-level personnel from Pakistani agencies.

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4. Analysis of Opportunities and Constraints. Key opportunities for the Pakistan Industry:

• Further development of export markets particularly those in the Middle East, South East Asia, China and Central Asia. ASLP can help through the focus on increasing supply of ‘export quality’ fruit and low-seed cultivars.

• Expansion of market-led opportunities by extending the production season, improving quality management and value adding and processing. ASLP can help through germplasm introduction and supply chain analysis capacity building.

• Further development of the domestic market as supply chains and supermarkets and rail and road infrastructure develop. ASLP can help through capacity building in domestic supply chain analysis and improvement and introduction of cultivars that extend season/meet domestic market niche opportunities.

Key constraints for the Pakistan Industry: • Challenging micro-environmental conditions – high summer temperatures,

alkaline soils, low organic matter and saline water – all hamper productivity/contribute to tree decline,

• Inefficient production and irrigation practices – production < 50% of Australian yields,

• Declining profitability due to over supply (short season gluts and poor market access) and low tree yields – high postharvest losses (40%) and low proportion of first grade fruit (<30%)

• Deficiencies in revitalisation strategies – unreliable germplasm, cultivar seediness, inadequate disease and pest management strategies contribute to reduced productivity and losses and current strategies are inadequate.

• HLB, bacterial canker, Phytophthora gummosis and nematodes are associated with dieback and tree debilitation and are not adequately understood or controlled.

• Labour shortages – innovation in technology and labour use is needed.

• Difficulties in meeting Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and Sanitary-Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements of high-end markets – innovation in crop husbandry and pest/disease management is needed.

• Farmer illiteracy and information access and dissemination deficiencies – innovation and broadening of farmer training needed.

5. R, D & E issues that could be supported under ASLP. Consideration of background analysis, field visits and workshop outcomes has highlighted several issues that are critical for the development of the Pakistan citrus industry. The ASLP citrus team recommendations highlight these. Given the limited time frame and resources of the ASLP and the support/resources already available, focus of ASLP on recommendations 3 to 8 is proposed, with strategic interventions under recommendations 1 and 2.

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Recommendation 1. Pakistan should continue to address the policy/high level issues that hamper progress and improvement of the industry.

The Government of Pakistan is committed to complying with the requirements of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and federal and provincial plant health and agricultural standards legislation is being reviewed and revised. The Federal Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and Food are also promoting market development and investment in infrastructure necessary for the improvement of domestic and export markets.

Policy/High Level Issues that hamper industry progress include the focus on ‘supply-driven’ marketing rather than ‘market-driven’ production, and challenges associated with co-ordination/collaboration between federal and provincial governments and agencies. An enhanced knowledge management approach, with active legislative underpinning is recommended. ASLP initiatives could provide strategic support to the following (and especially 1.4):

1.1. Promote a market-driven approach by government and other stakeholders to industry innovation:

The Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board (PHDEB)11 is making significant progress in promoting and expanding export markets. PHDEB are engaging with industry at the provincial level and the team found their staff to be knowledgeable and professional.

The industry faces problems of overproduction, aging/ declining orchards, poor attention to quality management and inadequate market infrastructure.

• Production of fruit meeting specific market requirements (e.g. early/late season) could expand industry opportunities.

• Broader engagement by government and industry planners with members of all supply chain sectors will improve the accuracy and breadth of problem identification and strengthen delivery pathways for innovations.

The Agribusiness initiative (ADB soft loan) and the Government of Punjab Fruit and Vegetable Development Project will provide substantial support to improve horticultural marketing.

1.2. Improve and promote active legislation at federal and provincial levels to underpin key elements of industry biosecurity and improvement.

The successful implementation of recommended improvements (such as certified nursery stock) will be hampered by inadequate plant health and agricultural standards legislation and insufficient resources for implementation/enforcement.

• There is a need to review, revise and implement legislation covering nursery certification, movement of plant material, biosecurity and management of neglected orchards. This process is already in progress at federal and provincial levels.

11 Under the Ministry of Commerce.

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• Active enforcement of legislation requires ‘political will’ as well as regulatory infrastructure and capacity. A strong citrus industry association would foster better liaison, attention and resources as needed.

• A private sector/industry partnership with independent ‘third party’ certification could enhance access to certified nursery stock.

1.3. Develop a knowledge management approach within R & D, extension and education agencies to improve uptake and dissemination of innovations.

The ASLP initiatives need first to get a good understanding of current initiatives to see how to work with them, build trust and understanding and add value.

• A focussed workshop could be organised by ACIAR to review current knowledge management strategies and to introduce and adapt innovations in partnership with CABI and national and provincial agencies.

1.4. Actively foster co-ordination and collaboration across governments, agencies and supply chain sectors.

Co-ordination in research and extension, both at a national, provincial and local levels appeared inconsistent, leading to wasted resources and duplication of effort.

• Focus should be on identifying and capitalising on federal/provincial and cross institutional synergies to make better use of time and resources. Enhanced co-ordination of federal and provincial priority setting, and resource allocation in consultation with industry would encourage federal and provincial R & D agencies and Universities to co-ordinate more closely.

• Information flows to growers and other supply chain members appeared slow and circuitous. It was noted that Provincial extension agencies and PHDEB are striving to address these deficiencies but industry members also need to actively participate in information gathering and dissemination. The ASLP could help foster innovation in information dissemination.

• Enhanced co-ordination/collaboration through regular industry planning meetings and workshops sponsored by ASLP would enhance synergies and improve the balance of attention between issues and priorities of local and national significance.

While these issues are largely outside the scope of ASLP resources, some targeted support is recommended.

Recommendation 2. Analysis and improvement of the product, people and financial elements of the supply chain will enhance market development and profitability.

Exporters deal in a range of commodities (mangoes>> Kinnow) to extend business year-round. The processing sector is hampered more by seasonality, with infrastructure/transport affecting diversification into processing of a broader range of seasonal crops (such as mango, apple, tomato). All sectors of the industry face problems of enhancing quality assurance and food safety.

The industry appears to be fragmented and communication and co-ordination between producers, collectors, commission agents, processors and exporters seem inadequate – leading to over supply, price undercutting and missed sales. The

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PHDEB has made a good start towards fostering the development of necessary linkages. The following issues are key:

2.1. Enhance market intelligence gathering and analysis to underpin the implementation of a ‘market-driven’ industry development strategy.

2.2. Develop Quality Assurance and Food Safety standards and practical implementation strategies as overarching requirements for market development.

2.3. Extend harvest times and identify/match product demand windows.

2.4. Improve orchard, postharvest, transport and marketing practices/technologies.

2.5. Foster training and capacity building throughout the supply chain and improve extension, communication and industry linkages.

2.6. Promote the development of a dynamic industry structure.

The Agribusiness Development Project and other initiatives (ADB soft loan) will provide support in this area. Any support under ASLP needs to be complementary and well targeted – ASLP could focus on production and extension/training elements.

Recommendation 3. Give priority attention to enhancing access for farmers to improved germplasm and disease-free certified planting material is vital for industry revitalisation.

Nursery stock is being grafted onto virus resistant rootstocks, but two major disease problems ⎯ huanglongbing (HLB: citrus greening) and citrus canker ⎯ are being spread on infected planting material. Rootstocks can also improve tolerance of phytophthora and salinity.

The industry has identified ‘seedlessness’ as a key requirement for market development and there are putative ‘low seed’ lines of Kinnow available at research centres. There is a need to fully assess and commercialise the most promising lines and to introduce from overseas other useful germplasm – such as rootstocks with salinity or disease tolerance.

3.1. Eliminate nursery practices that favour disease spread (soil cultivation, growth of nursery stock and mother trees adjacent to mature trees, low graft unions, infestation with citrus canker, HLB and parasitic dodder).

o Germplasm cleanup, testing and multiplication facilities for ‘certified nursery stock’ are being developed. Australia has ‘best practice’ models for these schemes.

o Australia has best practice models for managing many diseases in nursery stock and could additionally benefit from knowledge gained on management of citrus canker and HLB. Australia can add value by checking/helping in cleanup and cultivar verification, and in promoting the commercial industry involvement.

3.2. Introduce and evaluate new germplasm and rootstocks.

o There could be opportunities to extend marketability through the introduction of new citrus germplasm. Australia may have useful germplasm.

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o There is a need for range of rootstocks including rootstocks which tolerate saline conditions. Australia has a range or rootstock material introduced from China under a previous ACIAR project.

o Australia has experience in the commercialisation of new cultivars.

3.3. Use heat unit modelling to select cultivars most suited to growing conditions.

o A key contribution could be Australian expertise in use of heat unit models to screen commercially available cultivars and select those suited to the eco-climate of the growing regions.

ASLP citrus initiatives could provide well-targeted and complementary support in this area.

Recommendation 4. Introduce innovative orchard management practices to enhance yields, extend the productive life of trees and enhance water and labour use.

4.1. Assess innovations in tree planting and management (closer spacing, raised beds, discontinue intercropping, tree pruning, crop regulation, nutrition, fruit thinning, pruning).

o Good base line data on current practice/crop status is needed.

o Australia has best practice expertise in crop management and a range of practices could be assessed in demonstration blocks.

o Assess labour demands and demonstrate the economic benefits of the innovations

4.2. Trial alternatives to whole of paddock flood irrigation (furrow, mini-sprinklers, drip systems).

o Good baseline data is needed on current practices/costs/water demand for selected trial sites.

o Australia has extensive experience in this area and a range of practices could be assessed in demonstration blocks.

o Assess labour demands and demonstrate economic benefits.

4.3. Trial management options for improving rind quality and reducing blemish.

o Build on baseline information being collected by the University of Faisalabad.

o Australia has good experience in treatments/management practices to improve rind quality and reduce blemish and a range of practices could be assessed in demonstration blocks.

o Assess labour demands and demonstrate economic benefits.

ASLP citrus initiatives could contribute significantly in this area.

Recommendation 5. Improve focus and uptake of pest and disease management systems to extend the productive life of trees, enhance yield and reduce chemical use

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5.1. Determine the main causes of dieback (citrus decline) and develop control options.

o Assess relative contributions of huanglongbing (HLB), nematodes, phytophthora and fungal pathogens.

o Assess the impact of seasonal conditions on (a) HLB bacterial titres in tree canopies, particularly growth flushes, and (b) transmission of the disease by its vector, the Asiatic citrus psyllid (ACP).

o Australian experience and expertise in HLB management and integrated pest management in China and South East Asia can be drawn on to assess control options.

5.2. Demonstrate ‘best practice’ strategies to minimise the occurrence of citrus leafminer and citrus canker in nurseries and orchards.

o Establish HLB and canker free mother stock.

o Develop and trial control options.

o Control options will have relevance for Australia’s citrus canker and HLB biosecurity strategies.

5.3. Capitalise on the Farmer Field School approach to control of fruit flies and other pests and reduce fruit damage, and trial use of Grower Groups (Cittgroups).

o Capitalise on the activities under existing projects.

o Draw on Australian experiences in Australia and South East Asia in IPM and fruit fly management.

5.4. Assess the potential of interplanting with guava as a means of minimising the incidence of HLB and ACP in orchards.

ASLP citrus initiatives could contribute significantly to this area.

Recommendation 6. Enhance resourcing and innovation in extension systems to improve delivery and uptake of effective innovations by farmers and traders.

6.1. Capitalise on synergies* with ALP12 funded activities, the Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project13 and other national and provincial initiatives14, to build capacity and revitalise extension approaches.

12 US funded Agriculture Linkages Program (see Appendix 5). 13 According to the ADB loan proposal (4/2005), the project will focus on horticultural crops including citrus - increasing productivity, product quality, and value adding by removing constraints facing agribusiness that occur throughout the product value chain from production and input supply, to processing and exports. 14 Such as the Fruit and Vegetable Development Project Punjab .

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o Initial focus should be on understanding the approach advocated by CABI and methods used in training of trainers in current projects, to draw synergies and add value.

6.2. Strengthen linkages between growers, researchers and extension.

o Provide strategic support for participation in annual planning/co-ordination meetings

6.3. Foster citrus industry associations and technical forums.

o Build on previous conference/workshop initiatives

ASLP Citrus initiatives could contribute significantly to other parallel-funded work* in this area.

Recommendation 7. Target capacity building activities to underpin R, D & E initiatives, information use and industry development.

7.1. Develop R & D capacity in research and extension

7.2. Capitalise on Farmer Field School initiatives to enhance skills development with growers.

Key areas for attention in capacity building:

• Supply Chain analysis and improvement,

• Germplasm clean-up and planting material selection,

• Orchard management systems,

• Pests and disease diagnosis and management,

• Enhancing effectiveness of extension,

• Sourcing and presenting information for farmers and extension personnel.

ASLP initiatives could provide targeted capacity building and provide significant backup to other major funding initiatives (mentioned in 6.1).

6. Proposed Project. Recommendation 8. Develop an ACIAR project and other ASLP activities to

help address the issues identified in recommendations 3 to 7, to deliver lasting benefits for the citrus industries in Pakistan and Australia.

8.1 A strategically focussed approach is proposed to dovetail with other current and planned initiatives and capitalise on existing technologies and information.

8.2 The suggested aim of an ASLP citrus project, “Development of integrated crop management practices to increase sustainable yield and quality of citrus in Pakistan and Australia” (HORT/2005/160) is:

To enhance the sustainable production of high quality citrus fruit in Australia and Pakistan and build capacity to undertake integrated and targeted research, development and extension activities.

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Specific objectives and anticipated outputs:

Objective 1. To enhance germplasm introduction and evaluation and improve nursery stock production systems, focussing on disease-freedom, cultivar integrity, micro-enviroment suitability and root stock selection.

Suitable germplasm sourced and evaluated using heat unit modelling to select best options for field/postharvest assessment.

‘Best practice’ options for nursery certification and production schemes developed and trailed with private sector partners and emphasis on ‘value adding’ to existing initiatives.

Capacity building and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 2. To improve productivity by better orchard husbandry and water management focussing on tree spacing, crop management, nutrition and irrigation.

‘Best Practice’ demonstration blocks established and assessed by farmers in partnership with Farmer Field School initiatives.

Production manuals revised, ‘road-tested’ and published. Skills and technical information transferred and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 3. Enhance management of citrus pests and disease, focussing on control of huanglongbing (HLB - greening), Phytophthora trunk rot, bacterial canker and tree decline.

Better integrated control strategies for HLB, Phytophthora and canker. Confirmation of key factors causing citrus decline. Pest and disease management guides revised and published. Skills and information transferred and technical exchanges undertaken.

Objective 4. To enhance the uptake and application of improved management systems, postharvest technology, new technologies and production skills.

Extension capacity and skills developed in ‘Farmer-Field School’ approaches.

Alternative extension models (eg grower groups). Farmer-friendly extension resources.

Given the high level on engagement by national and provincial agencies in citrus R, D & E, and quite high levels of support under various projects, the challenge will be to engage in a complementary way. It seemed however that the ‘mega projects’ provide core support for agencies and personnel and that ASLP could work in tandem with these projects in the way that ACIAR usually does – providing support for the front-line R, D & E, exchanging knowledge, technology and know-how from Australia and facilitating person-to-person engagement with agency personnel. It will however be important to understand the scope, players and projected outputs of

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current initiatives and to dovetail ASLP initiatives to them, and respond dynamically, to complement/adapt to progress and changes as they occur. The PARC and NARC co-ordination will be vital in helping ACIAR and the project team to engage with other projects and keep abreast of progress/link opportunities.

Acknowledgements.

The help and advice of members of the Government of Pakistan, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, and all other Pakistani agencies and farmers involved in planning and hosting this visit is greatly appreciated. The support of ACIAR, the Australian High Commission, Islamabad and Australian agencies who contributed members to the scoping team, is also acknowledged.

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Bibliography.

The following is a list of publications and briefing material provided to the ASLP scoping visit team as well as relevant websites and other background information sources. Copies of selected material is held on file by the ACIAR Horticulture Program.

Agriculture Livestock and Cooperatives Department, Gov. of NWFP. Agricultural Policy NWFP 2005. 18pp. Outlines 16 key issues that underpin need for an agricuture policy (including inefficient use of water resources, fragmented land holdings, high costs and quality problems of inputs, weak inter/intra agency co-ordination, lack of marketing infrastructure). Articulates objectives of the Agriculture Policy NFWP to address these issues including short-term measures and medium and long-term recommendations.

Ahmed Saeed, Dr, 2005. Pakistan Horticulture. Horticultural Foundation of Pakistan. 97 pp. produced by the Foundation for the Citrus and Vegetable Export, 2006 18-20/2/2006 Marriott Hotel, Islamabad. The publication contains papers by leading scientists and citrus growers of Pakistan.

Ahmed Saeed, Dr, 2006 . Some salient features of Citrus Production in Pakistan. Briefing produced for ASLP Citrus Industry Workshop, Best Western Hotel, Islamabad, July, 2006. 3pp. Summarises key elements of industry and potential interaction for ASLP. Dr Ahmed was the keynote speaker at the workshop.

Project Director, Fruit and Vegetable Development Project. 2006. Australia Pakistan ASLP Mission to identify opportunities to support the development of the Pakistan citrus industry. 2pp. Briefing note for scoping team. Lists technical constraints and problems including socio-economic problems (the latter include infrastructure and marketing issues), recommendations for ASLP citrus crop management project and in-country expertise/risk factors and potential barriers to success of an ASLP citrus project.

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Project, DIU, Sargodha. 2006. Brief note on citrus fruit development project DIU Sargodha. 6 pp. Brief for ASLP team (?). Describes project aims and the farmer field school approach and provides statistics on number of field schools in 3 districts, number of training meetings and inputs distributed.

Deputy District Officer, Agriculture, Bhalwal?? 2006. Citrus demonstration plot maintained by extension staff of each agricultural officer/agricultural inspector/field assistant in district. and List of demonstration citrus plots in Tehsil Bhalwal. Copies of material provided to ASLP with statistics/info on field sites. 3pp and 2 pp lists of farmers ‘with parentage’.

Directorate General Agriculture Extension N.W.F.P. Manual of Integrated Pest Management on fruit fly and termites. 69pp. Explains IPM and outlines integrated control measures.

District Officer Agriculture Extension, Sargodha. 2006. Brief on Agricultural Extension Department Sargodha, 2005-2006. 20pp. Brief on Extension Dept, structure and functions, district land use, crop production stats 2001-2006, farmer training Schedules, citrus seminars and field days, citrus demo plots, pesticide adulteration and fertiliser checking, future projects, main problems and bottle-necks future planing, economic and social impacts.

Ibraham, M. and Anwar, R. 2004. Proceedings of International Conference on Citriculture 28th – 30th April, 2004. 229 pp. Conference Proceedings containing review and

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research papers describing recent R & D in Pakistan and other citrus producing countries.

Jilani G. 2006. Papers on natural approaches to pest management. Copies of papers authored/co-authored by Dr Jilani now Deputy Director General, Institute for Plant and Environmental Protection, NARC, Islamabad. Describes scientific data on use of neem and tumeric for pest control.

Khan, I.A. 1992. Proceedings of the First International Seminar on Citriculture in Pakistan, December 1992. University of Agriculture Faisalabad. 564 pp. Conference Proceedings containing review and research papers on citrus R & D in Pakistan and elsewhere.

Khan, M.M. 2005. Citrus Nursery Raising: Principles and Practices. Certified Citrus Nursery Project, University of Faisalabad: 103 pp. Sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology. A comprehensive book on citrus nursery practice with chapters on Site selection and growing structures, plant propagation and improvement, cultural practices, disease and pests, registration, certification and indexing, glossary, abbreviations, colour plates and references. Theoretical approach does not contain info on current registration/regulation in Pakistan.

Mahmood, R. 2006. Citrus pests and emphasis on their control by non-pesticide control measures. 10pp. Briefing paper prepared by CABI scientist for ASLP team (?). Describes rationale for reducing chemical use for pest control in citrus, describes major pests and approaches for IPM. Lists some parasitoids which CABI would like to introduce for pest control.

Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology (NIAB) Faisalabad (Pakistan). 10pp. Brochure produced by NIAB, which outlines Institutional set-up and research programs.

PHDEB 2006. HortMAg Vols 22 and 23. Newsletter of PHDEB June 2006 and July 2006 16 pp each. English/Urdu language magazines covering key issues of interest to hort industries. Available on-line (see links) June issue reproduces Australian mango industry information on quality and grade standards and MoUs for Pakistan citrus exports to Iran and China.

Planning and Evaluation Cell Government of Punjab Agriculture Department. 2005. Fruit and Vegetable Development Project Umbrella PC-1. 2005-06 to 2008-09. 26 pp with additional annexures and appendices. On file at ACIAR. Describes project aims, responsibilities of partners and budgets.

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Appendix 1 Citrus Industry Pakistan Itinerary and Workshop Programs.

Day Date Activity

All team flies into Islamabad via flight no. TG509 at 2200 hrs & stays at Serena Islamabad

Sun 16 1000-1300 Citrus Team drives to Peshawar

Mainly rest day/project planning

Mon 17 0730-1000 Travel from Peshawar to Palai Dara, Malakand

Union council Palai Dara (a unit comprising of 20-30 thousand people residing in certain number of villages to make it a political constituency) of Bat Khela tehsil where we went. Daragi has 8-9 villages and we visited the following villages:

1000-1100 Visit the orchard of Mr. Fazle Wahid in 1) Palai village, Malakand

1100-1200 Visit 2) Sher Khana village Germ Plasm Unit in Malakand

1200-1430 Visit orchard of Mr. Fazle Malik in 3) Bazdara village, Malakand (who visited Australia along with the delegation) + Lunch

1430-1630 Travel to Mardan

1630-1730 Visit orchard of Saleem Khan of Baroch village, Mardan

1830-2000 Visit orchard of Mr. Muhammad Iqbal of Shahbazghari village, district Mardan

2000-2300 Travel to Islamabad & reach Serena

Tue 18 0900-1100 Meeting chaired by Dr. Muhammad Afzat, DG, National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) and attended by several relevant officials

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, Deputy Director General, Institute of Plant & Environmental Protection, NARC & Dr. Ghulam Jilani

Mr. Iftikhar Ahmad (Ph:051-9255027,0333-5301762)

Director, Institute of Horticulture Research, NARC & other members

1130-1300 Meeting with

Mr. Khalid Masud, Project Manager, CAB International Regional Bioscience Centre, Opposite 1-A, Data Gunj Baksh Road, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi

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1500-1600 Meeting with

Mr Muhmmad Ismail Qureshi

Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock

Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Room No. 301, 3rd Floor, B-Block

Pak Secretariat, Islamabad

1600-2000 Australian team drives to Faisalabad (approx. 372 kms) & stays & Serena, Faisalabad

Wed

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0830-1030 Meeting with Dean Faculty of Agriculture + Meeting with Director & other relevant staff of the Institute of Horticulture Sciences,

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad & tea + Visit of major research facilities

1100-1300 Meeting with Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan

Chief Scientist & Director, NIAB, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box 128, Jhang Road, Faisalabad

& Visit to selected labs Visit Irradiation Institute, NIAB + Lunch 1400-1500: Visit to Ayub Agriculture Research Centre (AARI) office & meet with relevant Director’s

Thu

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0730-0900 Travel from Faisalabad & turn from Makhdoom Interchange to Sargodha (about 100 km)

0930-1030 Visit Citro Pak Juice Processing Plant

Mr. Zulfiqar Hayat (0321-4383642) Director, Citro Pak, 16km, Talibwala Road, Sargodha : Mr. Kamran Hadier (0300-4019003)

1100-1230 Meeting, visit research plot & nursery of ORI

Mr. Niaz Ahmad Chaudhary, Director

Orange Research Institute (ORI), Sargodha

1300-1500 Lunch with & visit orchard of

Mr. Fayaz Ahmad Noon (large grower) from village Sher Muhammad Wala, Bhalwal

325-DD, Phase IV, DHA, Lahore

Ph: 048-3823111, 3823222 & 6001288 /

0300-8406330 & 0333-4081199

1530-1630 Visit orchard of Mr. Khalid Aziz (medium grower) at Chak 9 N.B.

1630-1730 Visit Kinnow orchard of Mr. Imran (small grower) at Chak 9 N. B.

1830 Back to & Night stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

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Fri 21

0600-0830 Visit local Fruit Market in Sargodha facilitated by

Chaudhry Muhammad Shariff Kisana

Extra Asst. Director of Agriculture, Economics & Markets,

H. Ho. 723, Old Chungi No. 9, Satellite town, Sargodha

Ph office:048-3214911 / Mobile:0300-6082047

Followed by meeting with Market Committee + Harvest contractors

0900-1030 Visit Nursery of Mr. Abdur Rasheed Khan

Chak No. 84 NB, Sargodha-Jhang road

1100-1200 Visit National Kinnow packers, graders & exporters owned by Ch. Amjad Nisar, Chak No. 10 N.B. 5 km, Ajnala Sargodha road, Bhalwal

1230-1430 Visit + Lunch with Kinnow processor i.e. grader & exporter

Mr. Quasim Aijaz, Roshan Enterprises, 9-Chak Lokri, Kot Momin Road, Bhalwal

1500 Back to & night stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

Sat 22 0800 Teams leaves for workshop venue

0900-1500 Mini workshop to be held at Taste Restaurant, Bhalwal

1600-1930 Travel from Sargodha to Islamabad (around 260kms) & stay at Best Western Hotel

Sun 23 Mainly rest day / Preparation for Workshop

Mon 24 Citrus Workshop at Best Western Hotel

Tues 25 Citrus Workshop at Best Western Hotel

0630 Reception hosted by Australian High Commissioner, Her Excellency Zorica McCarthy at her residence

Wed 26 -Team flies back to Australia by TG510 that departs at 2310hrs

Mon 31 0930-1130 SPS related meetings with Dr. Wajid Pirzada, Chief WTO unit, MINFAL joined by Dr Malik, FAU

1430-1530 Meeting with Mr. Jason Robertson, Deputy High Commissioner, Australian High Commissioner

Greg flies Islamabad-Lahore by PK 381 at 2000hrs & onwards to Bangkok by TG506 at 2350

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Programme for Sargodha Session-I

0830- 0910

Formal opening of Workshop

0830-0840 Welcome Remarks Haji Azam

0840-0850 Research & Development on Citrus in Sargodha

Mr. Niaz Ahmad Chaudhary

0850-0905 Formal Remarks by Member National Assembly (MNA), Sargodha

Mr. Haroon Ihsan Piracha

0905-0910 Outlines and Purpose of ASLP + Objectives of Australian Citrus Mission + Introduction of Team

Mr. Les Baxter

Session-II

0910-1100

Formal Presentations

0910-0930 Introduction to Citrus Industry in Pakistan; Problems & Prospects

Dr. Amanullah Malik

0930-1000 Growing Citrus in Pakistan: A farmer’s perspectives (Economic and general production practices, problems) + A brief on Australian visit experience

Mr. Fayyaz Ahmed Noon + Mr. Quasim Aijaz

1000-1030 Growing Citrus in Australia: A farmer’s perspectives (Economic and production practices)

An Expert’s views

Mr. Peter Walker +

Dr. Tahir Khurshid

10:30-11:00 Tea / coffee break

Session-III

1100 – 1300

Forum on Key Topics + Questions & Answers

Facilitator: Dr. Greg Johnson

1100-1130

1130-1200

1200-1230

1230-1300

Citrus Orchard & Nursery Management

Citrus Pests & Diseases & Control

Post Harvest, Marketing & Exports

Extension

1300-1310 Vote of thanks Ch. Mohsin Warriach

Saturday

July 22, 2006

1310 – 1430

Lunch & informal discussions

Note: Session III will be a panel discussion chaired by Dr. Greg Johnson with panellists assigned & questions fielded to them, covering 3-5 questions per topic (depending on how quick each question/answer is).

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Programme for Industry Workshop Islamabad Session –I

0830-1000

Formal opening of Workshop (Mr. Hashim Laghari to conduct)

0830-0840 Arrival of Chief Guest & Guest takes seats + Recitation

0840-0850 Welcome to Participants Dr. Muhammad Aslam, Commissioner Minor Crops, MINFAL

0850-0900 Outlines and Purpose of ASLP + Objectives of Citrus Mission & Workshop + Introduction of Australian Team

Mr. Les Baxter

0900-0910 Key Note Address on Citrus Production in Pakistan

Dr. Saeed Ahmad

0910-0920 Address by Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Jason Robertson

0920-0930 Address by Chief Guest, Secretary / Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock

Mr Saleem Khan Jhagra

0930-1000 Vote of Thanks Mr. Hashim Laghari

Tea/coffee Break

Session-II

1000 – 1300

Presentations–Citrus Growing & Management Practices, Industry & Supply Chain, Extension Services

Facilitator: Dr. Greg Johnson

Chair: Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan

1000-1020 Citrus Growing in Pakistan, a growers perspective / economic analysis

Haji Azam

1020-1040 Citrus Growing and Marketing in Australia, a growers perspective / economic analysis

Mr. Peter Walker

1040-1100 Marketing/ Supply Chain / Agribusiness issues regarding citrus in Pakistan

Mr. Muhammad Iqbal, CEO, PHDEB

1100-1120 Orchard Contracting System, Is there a possibility for Shift?

Ch. Mohammad Mohsin Warraich

1120-1140 Australian Citrus Industry & Supply Chain Management

Mr. Andrew Green

Monday

July 24, 2006

1140-1200 Extension, Technology Transfer, Information sources and trainings in Australia & suggested improvements for Pakistan

Mr. Jeremy Giddings

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1200-1220 Agriculture Extension System Analysis & Planning for Improvements in Punjab

Dr. Rana Shafique, Project Director, Punjab

1220-1300 Discussion

1300 – 1400

Lunch/Prayer Break

Session-III 1400-1700

Presentations–Nursery & Orchard Management, Plant Protection & Post Harvest

Facilitator: Dr. Greg Johnson

Chair: Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad

1400-1420 Citrus Crop Management Research in Australia and its application for Pakistan

Dr Tahir Khurshid

1420-1440 Citrus Pest & Disease Management in Pakistan

Dr. Ahmad Saleem Akhtar

1440-1500 Citrus Pest & Disease Management in Australia--minimizing chemical use

Prof. Andrew Beattie

1500-1520 Tea/coffee break

1520-1540 Citrus Fruit Quality issues & Post harvest problems in Pakistan

Dr. Amanullah Malik

1540-1630 Discussion

1630-1730 High tea/coffee + informal discussions

Session – IV

0830 -1300

Working Groups– Producing Fruit for Market

Facilitator & Chair: Dr. Greg Johnson

0830 -0900 Introduction to session & working arrangements

Dr. Greg Johnson

Activity in working groups

Citrus nursery/orchard management & quality issues

Citrus Irrigation

Citrus crop protection & Insect Pest Management Issues

Supply Chain Management and Marketing

0900-1200

Capacity building & training issues for citrus

1200-1300 Finalizing recommendation by groups

Tuesday

July 25, 2006

1300-1430 Lunch/prayer break

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Session – V

1430-1700

Concluding Session

1430-1440 Arrival of Chief Guest & recitation

1440-1450 Opening Remarks Mr. Hashim Laghari

1450-1530 -Summary of key R&D issues

-Summary of key capacity building & technology transfer issues

-Recommendation for Future/Outcome of Workshop

Mr. Les Baxter

1530-1540 Address by Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan

Her Excellency Ms. Zorica McCarthy

1540-1550 Speech by Chief Guest, Federal Minister for Food Agriculture & Livestock

His Excellency Mr. Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan

1550-1630 Tea & Departure

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Appendix 2 Australian Citrus Familiarisation Tour Report (10-20 May, 2006) - Executive Summary and Recommendations

Excerpts of Report by Tahir Khurshid and Les Baxter.

Executive Summary:

Citrus is an important crop for Australia and for Pakistan. The Australian citrus industry is mainly based on export and domestic market, while Pakistan citrus production is mainly consumed for domestic markets and a small proportion for the overseas markets. A formal agreement for an Agricultural Sector Linkages Program (ASLP) was developed and signed between the governments of Australia Pakistan. The main objective of this agreement is to build linkages between the horticulture sectors for the mutual befits of both countries. In subsequent bilateral discussions regarding implementation of the ASLP, citrus (along with mangoes and dairying) was selected as a major sector of focus for research, development and capacity building activities.

A citrus industry delegation from Pakistan visited Australia in May 2006 to familiarise themselves with Australian citrus industry, its structure, skills and expertise. This tour was funded through the ASLP and hosted by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland. This study tour by Pakistani delegates was one of the three activities identified previously to establish linkages between Australia and Pakistan to strengthen their relations in horticulture sector for the mutual benefits of both countries in Research, Development and Extension (RD&E).

A comprehensive study tour of 10 days was designed to expose the group to Australian citrus industry in different growing regions across various states. The group started their tour at Bundaberg Research station where they were exposed to the Queensland and national scion breeding programs and tree management and fruit size and climatic issues. The day was followed by a citrus orchard tour in Central Burnett (Gayndah and Mundubbera), the major mandarin growing region in Queensland. This group was also shown the major insectaries and packing sheds in Queensland. In southern Australia the group visited major research stations, citrus orchards, packing shed/juice facilities, CSIRO, marketing boards and Australian Citrus Growers (ACG), Australian Budwood Scheme in Mildura. The group also visited one of the modern citrus growing systems called open hydroponics system in Yandilla Park, Mildura. They also attended presentation on citrus greening disease by Professor Andrew Beattie from University of Western Sydney.

The group took a keen interest in the entire tour and the delegates was quite impressed with the structure of the citrus industry in Australia, its citrus expertise and advanced techniques of managing citrus crop. A successful ‘wrap up’ workshop was held on 19 May, facilitated by Les Baxter (ACIAR). This workshop included Pakistani delegates, proposed Australian team for the scoping study, AQIS, HAL and program managers from NSW DPI and DPI&F Queensland.

The discussions and meeting with the Pakistani delegates suggested that, in Pakistan, there is a poor linkage between researchers and growers, researchers and extension workers and also there is either no or poor co-ordination across the research institutes. Pakistani growers are small landowners and they do not have knowledge or resources to maintain and manage their citrus crops. Growers do not have crop management protocols for basic cultural practices such as irrigation, fertilisation, pruning and disease management. Due to lack of crop management, poor fruit quality and storage facilities 30-35% of the crop is unsuitable for marketing.

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Poor yields are also due to lower tree density compared to Australia. Citrus trees in Pakistan take up to 9 years to reach commercial bearing. There is almost no concept of fruit thinning and flower manipulation to improve fruit quality and fruit size. Pruning is the main issues due to the late maturing nature of Pakistani “Kinnow” cultivar. In addition to that there is no reliable source of budwood. This is due to lack of certified citrus nurseries and therefore, there is no disease control via virus free budwood. No monitoring of pest is practiced like in Australia. Water use is not efficient as intercropping is carried out without the knowledge of the water requirements for the major and minor crops.

The Pakistani delegates were very impressed with the way Australian citrus is structured and the integration between growers, researchers, extension workers and marketers. Therefore, any ASLP project should have a grower-focussed research component. Pakistani delegates also emphasised the need of public and private partnerships rather than projects concentrating only on government institutes.

The Australian citrus team is due to arrive in Islamabad in mid July 06 to carry out a citrus scoping study in order to identify and familiarise themselves with problems of crop and nursery management, irrigation and disease management. This team will also evaluate the research and extension capabilities of the Pakistani citrus industry. The recommendations from the scoping study will assist in designing the longer-term research and extension program for the citrus industry in Pakistan.

ACIAR Wrap-up Workshop in Sydney ACIAR conducted a ‘wrap up’ workshop on the last day of the citrus familiarisation tour in Sydney. Expertise from DPI&F, NSW DPI management, AQIS and Horticulture Australia participated in the workshop along side of 11 Pakistani delegates (refer Attachment 3). The workshop was chaired by Les Baxter (Research Program Manager – Horticulture, ACIAR). This informal workshop created a lot of interest and discussions. A range of people exchanged very useful ideas about the citrus industry of Australia. Pakistani delegates were very impressed by the citrus industry and would like to see the Pakistani citrus industry develop in the same directions. Professor Andrew Beattie and Dr Paul Holford presented the data on citrus greening disease. AQIS presented on the quarantine system of Australia and showed a video. A Pakistani delegate showed a video and presented data on citrus industry of Pakistan.

Some of the useful points were noted and should be considered by the Australian citrus team which is due to arrive in Islamabad in mid July.

Impressions/learning from the Familiarisation Tour (Pakistan delegates) Participants were of the view that the tour was a ‘real eye opener’. They listed the following impressions/learning from the citrus industry familiarisation tour and presentations:

1. Importance of linkages between researchers and growers, researchers and extension workers and between research agencies. In Pakistan there are no linkages between researcher and growers and also no linkage between the research institutes.

2. Australia has proactive research and different institutes have different R&D and extension programs.

3. In Pakistan tree management is poor even in basics such as pruning, irrigation and pest/disease management. The group saw well-managed trees in Australian orchards.

4. Pakistan only exports fruit to non-compliant countries, Russia and Egypt etc. and to other countries. Pakistan loses 30-35% of the crop due to poor quality standards, lack of storage facilities and poor crop management.

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5. Growers in Pakistan do not have any crop management protocols for irrigation, fertilisation, and use of plant growth regulators. However, Australian growers follow strict protocol for export markets. Also in Australia, growers have access to tools which assist them with crop management (eg., tensiometers, salt testing kits).

6. There is certainly no tree management for smaller growers in Pakistan as they sell their fruit at flowering.

7. Pakistani growers still need technology and need to integrate with the industry people like in Australia.

8. They were impressed by the linkages between growers and packers and exporters in Australia.

9. Pakistanis learnt about that how citrus industry is structured in Australia (including research and extension). They were impressed by what they saw and are keen to pursue more commercial models in Pakistan.

10. The ASLP project should have a grower-focussed research component. 11. Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board representatives also raised the

issues that processors in Pakistan buy the fruit directly from the growers and sometime even from the wholesalers. This needs to be changed.

12. Public and private partnerships should be emphasised in this project rather than project concentrating only on government institutes.

13. In future they are keen to ensure that R&D and extension has a grower focus and grower involvement.

Recommendations, Follow-up, Feedback and Pakistan Industry Key Issues and Constraints Recommendations (by Pakistani delegates)

The participants highlighted the following issues for consideration in other activities associated with the ASLP program:

1. Tree management such as pruning, fruit thinning and irrigation management is poorly understood in Pakistan. No pruning is carried out due the nature of ‘Kinnow’ mandarin, as it is a late cultivar. The introduction of early mandarin cultivars will be a possibility.

2. Citrus tree takes longer (8-9 years) in Pakistan to be bear fruit commercially. In Australia trees produce commercial yield at year 6. The Pakistan industry needs some early maturing cultivars/rootstocks and improved management practices to expedite the fruit production.

3. Interest in heat unit mapping. Currently Dr Tahir Khurshid provides consultancy for the feasibility of growing different crops in different regions based on climatic modelling.

4. Intercropping is Pakistan is a problem as the water requirement for both crops varies at different phenological stages but under the current system each crop is receiving water at the same time and amount. No monitoring is in place. Water quality is also an issue. The Australian scoping team will be addressing this issue in July study tour.

5. No certified nurseries in Pakistan. Clean high quality planting material needs to be a focus of the ASLP.

6. The group was impressed with ‘Bugs for Bugs’ insectaries in Mundubbera and would like to see something like that happening in Pakistan.

7. Delegates were not sure about the greening disease and there were conflicting ideas about that. Australian scoping team in July will sort this one out.

8. The group is also interested to form a grower co-operative such as GayPak (Gayndah), however they need some assistance in this regard.

9. The group also wants to dedicate a person to learn open hydroponics systems in Yandilla Park, however, this is a very new and costly system in Australia and may be

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inappropriate for Pakistan at this time. It would certainly not benefit small growers. However, advanced irrigation and fertigation would be a beneficial alternative.

10. The participants were keen to explore ways in which they could interface with Australian commercial organisations such as ‘Bugs for Bugs’.

11. The tree size of mandarin in Pakistan is too tall and rootstocks are needed to control the tree height.

12. A grower from NWFP (North West Frontier Province) (Mardan and other regions) emphasised that a portion of the project should also be spent in NWFP. NWFP is the only region famous for it sweet oranges and blood oranges. It was felt that he possibility of improving the citrus crop in NWFP needs to be explored. There should be equally replicated research program for oranges along side with mandarins

Follow Up Issues

The participants highlighted three areas identified during the tour/workshop where they would like the Australian team to follow up with more information:

1. Production Information – the tour participants requested additional information on some of the production techniques that they had seen. Tahir will follow up on this.

2. Scholarships – A number of participants requested that the ASLP project team consider the possibility of providing short-term scholarships for growers and packers to come to Australia and spend time (say several months) working alongside their counterparts in Australia. This will be considered in the project design.

3. AQIS Training – The participants were impressed by the AQIS presentation of the Australian quarantine system and by a brief introduction to the training provided by AQIS to Australian industry. Several participants enquired as to how we could provide this training to growers and other industry staff in Pakistan. It was agreed that this would be further discussed with AQIS.

Feedback of the Familiarisation Tour/ Suggestion for Improvements to Format

The participants were asked to provide verbal feedback on the industry familiarisation tour and ways in which it could be improved. In general, the participants were very impressed by the organisation of the tour and the program of visitations. A number of participants suggested additional citrus industry sectors/activities which may be considered for inclusion in future visits. These were:

• Value adding operations • Fruit drying/dehydration • Machinery manufacturers • Logistics/trucking • Cold storage/CA

Participants Views on Issues/Constraints for with Pakistan Citrus Production 1. Issues Across the Value Chain

• Lack of policy/regulation framework • Weak institutional linkages/capacity • No standardisation eg., quality standards and hygiene protocols • Lack of information dissemination mechanisms • Poor logistics/distribution system • Lack of infrastructure such as cool chain systems, storage and processing • Lack of appropriate technology/know-how

2. Constraints for Growers

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• Poor agronomic practices leading to low yields and poor quality • Unreliable supply of pest and disease-free, high quality planting material • Current marketing systems which relies upon harvest contractors and middlemen buying the crop in advance • Weak linkages, support and capacity of research organisations • Weak linkages between research and extension • Lack of technical information • Small scale of farms • Lack of investment in production technology (eg mechanisation) • Lack of skilled labour • Expensive production inputs • Lack of credit facilities • Lack of available high quality water/salinity • Soil structure

3. Constraints for Exporters • Poor quality fruit • Advanced sales to middlemen • Access to market information • Information on international trade, compliances, quarantine requirements etc • Lengthy documentation procedures • Limited logistics and transportation • Lack of cold storage and CA facilities • Price undercutting in limited markets • Lack of credit for export financing • Small exporters • Lack of support for international marketing • Poor international awareness of local brands • Fruit flies and other phytosanitary pests • Market access protocols

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Appendix 3 Background: Pakistan Industry status and future challenges G I. Johnson, February 2006

This document is a compilation of web-based information about the citrus industry in Pakistan, prepared as background briefing to the citrus scoping study commissioned under the ASLP for July 2006. Much of the information is copied directly from web-sources with minimal editing and is not intended for publication.

Pakistan Industry.

In Pakistan, citrus is the major fruit crop. A mandarin type, cv. Kinnow, is the dominates production (See Tables 1 and 2 and c.f. mango data in Table 3), and together with another cultivar, Fewtrell, represents 80 percent of citrus grown in Pakistan. The cultivars were imported to Pakistan in 1940 - Kinnow from California and Feutrell from Australia. Kinnow mandarin is a hybrid resulting from a cross between King mandarin and Willowleaf (Mediterranean common) mandarin made in 1915 by Frost in California and released in 1935. Feutrell (the correct spelling is Fewtrell) is an old variety from New South Wales in Australia. It may be a natural tangor (mandarin x sweet orange), with Willowleaf as the mandarin parent. It is an early variety (Fewtrell's early), while Kinnow is mid-season in maturity. Both Feutrell and Kinnow mandarins have a fairly strong tendency to alternate bearing and they have numerous seeds (Bove, 199515).

Table 1. Citrus production (metric tonnes (MT)) in Australia & Pakistan

Year - 2002 2003 2004

Total Production

Australia 583,754 745,299 535,158

Pakistan 1,701,000 1,760,000 1,670,000

Oranges

Australia 450,559 599,484 395,164

Pakistan 1,190,000 1,232,000 1,169,000

Mandarin types

Australia 78,079 98,343 100,959

Pakistan 443,000 458,000 434,000

FAOSTAT data, 2005, last updated February 2005

Table 2. Citrus area harvested (ha) in Australia & Pakistan 15 Bové, J.M. 1995. Virus and virus - Like diseases of citrus in the near east region. Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations, Rome. http://www.fao.org/docrep/U5000E/U5000E00.htm

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Year - 2002 2003 2004

Total Production

Australia 30,280 31,280 27,880

Pakistan 181,500 195,800 185,400

Oranges

Australia 24,000 25,000 21,700

Pakistan 127,000 137,000 130,000

Mandarin types

Australia 4,100 4,100 4,100

Pakistan 47,200 51,000 48,000

(it is not clear if Kinnow is listed under mandarin type or orange in FAO STAT).

Table 3. Mango production (MT) & area harvested (ha) in Australia & Pakistan

Year - 2002 2003 2004

Total Production

Australia 40,973 38,970 37,169

Pakistan 1,037,145 1,034,581 1,055,987

Area harvested

Australia 8,000 8,000 8,000

Pakistan 98,967 102,793 103,110

Faisalabad, Sargodha and Sahiwal are the main production areas for Kinnow.

Internationally, Pakistan produces about 8 % of the world's citrus. Compared with other citrus producing countries of the world, citrus yields in Pakistan are low, even c.f. neighbouring countries (India and Iran). It is expected that domestic demand for citrus will increase because of

population growth, consumer preferences and increased per capita income but, investment in R & D has been low. It has been suggested that that underlying socio-economic factors, labour availability and orchard management negatively and significantly affect productivity. On the technical side, the farm yard manure use,

43

inorganic fertilisers and plant protection practices are considered to contribute positively to productivity but they are under-utilised.

Climate:

Pakistan is subject to the summer monsoon system, and the main rainy season occurs in July, August and September. Annual rainfall in the Punjab ranges from 350 to 500 mm. During the dry season from October to January there are only occasional rains and showers. A second rainy season covers February and March, to be followed by the dry and hot "summer" season of April, May and June, when irrigation of citrus (by submersion or flooding) is required. (Bove, 1995)

Propagation

The rootstock on which citrus is grown in the Punjab is rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) also called Jamberi or Jatti Khatti. In India, another lemon-like rootstock, Citrus karna Raf., is extensively used, second only to rough lemon (locally known as Kharna Khatta, Karna nimbu or Khatta nimbu). In the Peshawar district, sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) is the only rootstock and is know locally as Khatta Taru Jabba, Seville Kimb and Sylhet lime. (Bove, 1995)

http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm :

Improved varieties are propagated by budding on rough lemons or sour orange. Rootstocks are generally grown from seed. T budding/T grafting are the usual methods of propagation. Budding can be done during spring (Feb-March) and autumn (August-October) when bark slip freely from both scion and stock. Buds are selected from mature wood of productive and healthy trees.

Soils http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm :

Citrus is grown on a wide range of soils, including deep sandy loam, loam and clay loam. However, they do not grow well in very heavy, clayey, sandy, alkaline or water logged soils. Citrus fruits trees are grown in both tropical and sub-tropical climates. Temperature is the main factor affecting, time of blooming, maturity, production and fruit quality of citrus. Figure 1 shows soil types of Pakistan.

Figure 1. Dominant soil map of Pakistan (Original scale: 1:5 million).

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Pruning http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm :

At the time of transplanting the top portion should be balanced with the roots by removing some of the leaves, if necessary. Annual pruning is done to remove dried, diseased and those branches overcrowding the top of the tree. For a young citrus tree to have good frame work, no branches should be allowed on the main stem and two to four evenly spaced main limbs should be selected to provide balanced frame work. In Pakistan however, no systematic pruning is followed except for removal of dried, diseased and unwanted twigs.

Horticultural practices (Bove 1995)

As in many other countries, trees are often budded too low and they are planted too deep, with the bud-union line too close to the soil, if not buried. These inadequate practices favour the development of Phytophthora gummosis or footrot.

In Pakistan, the practice of growing winter fodder such as Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrium) in citrus orchards and the subsequent irrigation required by such crops also favour Phytophthora gummosis. Even in the absence of such crops, citrus seems to be over-irrigated.

Water Management

(http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/007/y5460e/y5460e06.htm

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The 4 000 year old Indus civilization has its roots in irrigated agriculture. The abandoned creeks of the meandering river, inundated during the flood season, are supposed to have served as the irrigation channels of the ancient systems. The first controlled all-year irrigation began in 1859 with the completion of the Upper Bari Doab Canal emanating from the Madhopur headworks on the Ravi river. The Sukkur barrage, completed in 1932, is considered as the first modern hydraulic structure on the downstream Indus river.

Pakistan can be divided into three hydrological units:

o The Indus basin, covering more than 566 000 km² (or 71 percent of the territory), comprising the whole of the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP as well as the eastern part of Balochistan.

o The Karan desert in the west of Balochistan (in the west of the country), which is an endorheic basin covering 15 percent of the territory.

o The arid Makran coast along the Arabian Sea covering 14 percent of the territory in its southwestern part (Balochistan province).

Total water withdrawal in 2001 was estimated at 166 km³, of which 95.6 percent for agricultural purposes (4.4 percent is withdrawn for domestic use and another 1.6 percent for industrial use). Groundwater abstraction for agriculture has been roughly estimated at 63 km³/year through more than 500 000 tubewells. However, in some areas, development appears to have reached the point where groundwater is being mined. Most urban and rural water is supplied from groundwater. Over 50 percent of the village water supply is obtained through hand pumps installed by private households. In saline groundwater areas, irrigation canals are the main source of domestic water.

According to the usual Pakistani classification irrigation consists of:

o Government canals: 6.38 million ha in 2001/02, of which 58 percent in the Punjab and 29 percent in Sindh province;

o private canals: 0.43 million ha, of which 81 percent are in NWFP; o tube wells: 3.45 million ha, of which 82 percent are in Punjab province; o open wells: 0.2 million ha, of which 55 percent are in Punjab province; o canals and tubewells: 7.24 million ha, all of them in Punjab province; o other means: 0.18 million ha.

The total irrigated area is 18 million ha. About 4 million ha is rainfed. The main irrigated crops are wheat, rice, sugar cane and cotton. Owing to inadequate water availability in winter (storage capacity is too small) and at the beginning and end of summer, cropping intensity is exceptionally low. According to a World Bank report, Pakistan does not have enough reservoir capacity in its irrigation system to store seasonal waters.

According to the Soil Survey of Pakistan (Mian and Javed, 1993), 2.8 million hectares of irrigated land is affected by salinity ranging from patchy salinity to dense saline sodic soils.

Citrus irrigation http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm :

The preferred method of irrigation is a basin round each tree. There should be channels connecting basins so that irrigation of fruits trees can be independent of the intercropped area between the tree lines which have different water

46

requirements. Growth sensitive periods to water shortage are flowering time (Feb/Mar), fruit setting (Apr/May).

http://assets.panda.org/downloads/agwaterusefinalreport.pdf

IWMI s general conclusion for Pakistan is that the country will face physical water scarcity by 2025 —that is, primary water supply more than 60 per cent of the potential utilizable water resource. Consequently, Pakistan will require 102 per cent of its potential utilizable water resource to feed its population. This means it will experience absolute scarcity of internal water resources irrespective of the financial or management means available (Table 11).

Given this forecast and the fact that opportunities to increase total water supply are severely limited, it is clear that, to meet future demands for food production, Pakistan will have to invest significantly in increasing water efficiency in existing irrigated areas.

Fertilizers and Manures

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/007/y5460e/y5460e06.htm Recommendations for fruit crops: Most of the recommendations for citrus are on a per plant basis. After planting the fruit tree, the application in the first year on average is 150 g N, 50 g P2O5 and 50 g K2O, mixed with 10-15 kg of well decomposed FYM for every plant. The dose in g is incrementally increased every year by about 75 g for N, 50 g for P2O5 and 25 g for K2O. Thus a mature plant of about 10 years will receive 1.5 kg N, 0.5 kg P2O5 and 0.5 kg K2O, mixed well with about 50 kg well decomposed FYM. Micronutrients are also to be added.

http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm :

o Apply farm yard manures (FYMs) at the rate of 40 to 80 kg per tree during the winter season in Dec/Jan before flowering. Apply 3-4 kg SSP and 1.5 to 2 kg of Urea 15-20 days (Jan/Feb) before flowering.

o Supply a further amount of Urea of 1.5 kg per tree after fruit setting (Mar/Apr).

o If necessary 1.5 kg of Potassium Sulphate may be applied at the time of applying FYM.

o Watering is essential after each application of fertilizer.

Effect of Foliar Application of Zinc, Manganese and Boron in Combination with Urea on the Yield of Sweet Orange

Sajida Perveen and Hafeez-ur-Rehman 2000, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research 16 No.2 http://www.parc.gov.pk/Pjar/journal16-2.html

Foliar application of zinc, manganese and boron alone and in various combinations were applied to sweet orange trees @ 0.4, 0.2 and 0.04 kg in the presence of 1.56 kg N (urea) and 0.4 kg surf/ha dissolved in 400 litres of water. The main effects and interactions of foliar spray of Zn, Mn and B in factorial combinations were studied relative to micronutrient concentration in citrus leaves and fruit yield of sweet orange. Zinc significantly increased

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leaf Zn contents and fruit yield as compared to trees where Zn was not included in foliar spray. The highest yield of 105.3 kg/tree was obtained from trees sprayed with Zn alone. Application of Mn significantly increased leaf Mn content, fruit yield and intensified the red colour of skin and juice. Application of boron significantly increased total yield, but did not influence leaf boron content. On the basis of VCR and maximum net return 0.4 kg of Zn/ha in the presence of 1.56 kg of N/ha (urea) and surf 0.4 kg/ha is recommended for higher production of citrus and for curing the zinc deficiency in Peshawar valley.

Pests and Diseases http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtm

An overview on citrus diseases (emphasising viruses and greening) is attached as Attachment A to Appendix 3. It is summary of a document by Bove, 1995

The following are notes on pests and diseases and recommendations:

o Aphids: Aphid attack is severe during Feb and April. Use diazinon 40% or Eldrine 20%, 1 kg in 450 litres of water. Insecticides should not be applied within 6 weeks of marketing the fruit.

o Citrus Leaf Minor: Use malathion 57 or metasystox 50% at the rate of 500 grams in 450 litres of water per acre for its control.

o Lemon Butterfly: It can be controlled effectively by using malathion and metasystox

o Citrus Whitefly: This attacks the fruits and causes great losses in yield and quality. This pest can also be controlled by using malathion 57%. This should not be applied within 6 weeks of marketing the fruit.

o Red Scales: These are sucking types of insects and cause great damage to Kinnow and sweet oranges in Punjab. They can survive throughout the year. Use parathion or malathion at the rate of 752 grams in 450 litres of water per acre for its effective control.

o Foot Rot: (Phytophthora) Its attack is severe in poorly drained soils. The affected tree gradually dries up. Remove the soil from around the affected trees without damaging the roots and improve on farm drainage for its effective control.

o Withertip: This disease is caused by nutritional deficiencies. The branches and fruits of the affected trees start drying and the tree becomes uneconomical to maintain. Apply a balanced dose of Bordeaux Mixture 450 after cutting affected branches from the trees.

o Citrus Canker: This is a bacterial disease. There is no effective treatment for this disease except to cut and remove the affected trees and spray formaldehyde at the spots from where the diseased trees have been removed.

Recommendation 1 Given the documented low productivity of citrus in Pakistan, a starting point for the scoping visit would be to assess the key factors affecting productivity.

Farm Size. Small and medium scale (and especially small) producers dominate the industry.

Harvesting http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/orchards/citrus.shtml :

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Harvest of citrus occurs almost throughout the year but mostly from December to March (Figure 2). The fruit should be picked when it is fully ripe. The best method is to pick the individual fruit by holding it in one hand and cutting the stalk with a knife and collecting it into boxes or baskets to avoid injury to the stem. The average yield expected from different types of fruits of various species are 500 to 1000 fruit per tree.

The Kinnow season starts from December and last till April (Figure 2). Kinnow is very delicious in taste and if treated with proper fungicide and wax and careful handing and storage of Kinnow at about 4 C can retain it’s freshness for 2 months.

Figure 2 Harvest Calendar for Citrus and Mango in Pakistan

(Pakistan Export Board) http://www.phdeb.org.pk/harvest_calender.php

Postharvest quality and disease management. http://www.telmedpak.com/agricultures.asp?a=agriculture&b=post_harvest

A copy of web information for postharvest handling of Pakistan citrus is attached as Attachment B of Appendix 3.

The control of post-harvest diseases is vital for maintaining quality and shelf-life in an exporting market where transportation may take weeks. Postharvest diseases can be separated into two categories based on their initial infections:

Pre-harvest infections which develop into diseases caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Phomopsis citri, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Phytophthora species and Alternaria citri.

Postharvest infections caused by wound pathogens Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium italicum and Geotrichum citriauranti.

Beside green and blue moulds, anthracnose, sour rot, black rot and Lasiodiplodia and Phomopsis stem-end rot cause post-harvest losses. Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes is a major decay in tangerines that are harvested early in autumn when long periods of degreening are required to enhance the fruit appearance. (Hina Kamal, 2006, http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/23/ebr7.htm )

Excessive degreening can significantly enhance decays such as Lasiodiplodia stem-end rot and anthracnose. The concentration of ethylene and duration of degreening treatment are correlated with the decay incidence and severity.

Cleaning fruit and removing surface dirt which harbours microbes and post-harvest pathogens is important in minimizing the decay and is usually achieved through spraying sanitizers such as chlorine in water or soaking fruit in water to which soda ash is added. Immersions of lemons in three per cent sodium carbonate at 35°C for 30 seconds is a common commercial practice for the control of moulds and sour rot.

Washing is usually accomplished over brush beds with the aid of approved cleansers or soaps. During washing, fruit is scrubbed for approximately 30 seconds as they travel over rotating brushes. At this stage care must be taken to avoid

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injury to fruit, often caused by prolonged brushing, rigid brush fibre and excessive speed. Washing is followed by a potable water rinse to remove soap and surface contaminants. Fruit is then dried with heated air and graded to remove defective ones. (Hina Kamal, 2006, http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/23/ebr7.htm

According to one export company, fruit are washed, waxed and treated with citrashine+fungazil 500ec+tbz after harvest, and treated fruit will store at 4C up to 50 days. (Note: need to check acceptability of chemicals used to importing countries eg residues etc?) (http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11172176/Fresh_Orange_Kinno_Mandarin_.html )

Domestic and Export marketing

The website of the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board contains considerable useful information including a document on the National marketing standard for Kinnow (attached as PDF file).

http://www.phdeb.org.pk/qualitycontrol.php

Table 4. Citrus and Mango trade (MT fresh product) from Australia & Pakistan. (FAO Stat Data, 2005 + Australian industry data)

Year - 2002 2003 2004

Citrus Exports (MT)

Australia 85,000 101,000 69,000

Pakistan 0 311,000 64,000

Mango Exports (MT)

Australia16 4713 2479 3112

Pakistan 47,561 60,441 82,059

Zaki Aijaz, co-conveyor Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCC,) said that Pakistan is a second-largest exporter of Kinnow after India. Pakistan exported 121,000 tonnes of Kinno during previous fiscal year. The Far East, Sri Lanka and Dubai are the major export markets for Pakistani Kinnow, while the fruit is also exported to Europe. Pakistan is ranked 5th in the largest Kinnow producing countries. Table 4 shows export data for Australian and Pakistan citrus and mangoes. (These figures differ from info below:)

Pakistan losing $44.5m yearly in Kinno exports (edited)

By Monem Farooqi, The Nation 11 January 2005

Lahore - Pakistan simply is losing $44.5 million yearly in Kinno exports because of the absence of basic infrastructure, transportation facilities, deficiencies in storage, scarcity of farm inputs, credit systems, advance sales, specialized research, gaps in the cold chain and limited cold storage 16 FAO STAT does not show export figures for Australian mangoes. Data shown is Australian industry data for 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.

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facilities, scarcity in cargo space, deficiencies in highly-skewed production, processing and packing, ruthless international competition, shortage of water accompanied by virus infection, resulting in poor crops. The industrial sources told The Nation that Pakistan is presently is producing 3 million tonnes of Kinnow and hardly can manage to import 9 percent of the production. http://nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2005/11/bnews5.php

(Note c.f. table 4, this is a production over-estimate X 6)

http://nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2005/11/bnews5.php

Zaki Aijaz, of Roshan Enterprises, a leading exporter, said that about 40 per cent postharvest losses in Kinnow reduced supply and put pressure on prices.

Web information suggests that there is demand for export Kinnow (e.g. Iran), but poor shelf-life and inadequate export infrastructure hampered opportunities.

Recommendation 2 The scoping study should document export information including opportunities, challenges and threats.

Factors to consider include cool chain handling, access to cargo space, international acceptability of quality standards and postharvest treatments (including market access issues such as residues and pest/disease issues).

Zaki Aijaz suggested that advance sales were also a root cause of financial constraints amongst the farmers as they are often forced to sell their produce in advance to the middlemen, commonly known as ‘bhekars’. The price that they get is much lower than the price at which a ‘bhekar’ sells the produce in turn (Note. One challenge will be how to work with/improve this system including the socio-economic dimensions!).

Low yields per unit input cost would compound this problem.

As well, product is not in line with international standards and internationally demanded cultivars (How does Kinnow generally compare with other internationally known and accepted cultivars? (Kinnow is very seedy)).

Due to weak extension services and absence of coordination between the agencies any outputs of R & D may not be reaching farmers (and there may not be incentives to extend results)

Recommendation 3 The scoping study should assess extension capacity and R & D links (and perhaps some socio-economic dimensions).

Regarding absence of cold chain and limited cold storage facilities, the experts say that the expensive cold storage facilities are not sufficient in the country and growers cannot store their output and processors can process only that much quantity which can be exported right away.

Saadat Ijaz, member Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board also cited “unhealthy competition among exporters” as affecting export development. As well no institutional support is available for marketing on an international level.

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The individual exporters are not large enough to run international marketing campaigns to promote a brand name. The availability of export refinancing is also limited because of weaknesses in marketing documentation. Many exporters are sellproduce on a ‘Documents Advance’ (DA) that does not qualify for refinance from banks.

Recommendation 4 A scan of current trade and policy environment would be worthwhile.

It would also be good to understand some more of the market and production dynamics eg what % of total income and exports sales etc comes from the larger growers vs the 90% of the “smaller” growers.

Recommendation 5 An audit of current processing uses and prospects for other uses would be worthwhile.

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Appendix 4 Observations and Recommendations on Nursery Practice, Crop Production, Irrigation and Crop Protection in Pakistan Citrus

Citrus Nursery and Crop Management – Observations and Recommendations by Tahir Khurshid, QDPI & F

Nursery Management: Uncertified nurseries (and disease problems in mother stocks) were highlighted as a problem in NWFP and the Punjab. There are no certified or virus free nurseries which can provide seeds or virus free bud-wood to the growers. There are three Germplam units in NWFP, one in Swat (Temperate fruit), one in Palai (Sub-tropical fruit) (which the team visited) and one in D. I. Khan (Tropical fruit). At Palai Sherkhana there is a germplam unit previously established under a Swiss (SDC) project. At this unit both mother block and multiplication blocks were present. However, there was no screen-house constructed over the mother block. A range of citrus species were growing at that unit.

How the current Certification Scheme works

Germplasm Unit Nurseries (Private sector)

Growers

Agriculture Research Station owns and run the Germplasm Unit

Dr Samad (In charge)

(Training required in mother block management & multiplication)

Role of Federal Seed Certification

Virus indexing

Visual assessment

True to type

& provide material to nurseries

Nurseries will make certified plants according to the number of buds provided

There are 30 registered nurseries

(Training required in tree management)

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In the Punjab region of Sargodha there were no certified nurseries. The nursery that the scoping team visited has no isolation for the mother trees. Nursery practices were poor as weeds were growing among the trees. There were no concepts of disinfestations of the nursery tools (knife) for budding or grafting.

On 2 August 2006, scoping team member, Tahir Khurshid, visited the office of Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department in Peshawar. Mr Ilhamuddin (Deputy Director) is the officer in charge. The stake holders for the fruit plant certification scheme are the Agricultural Research System, the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department and the Private Sector (Registered nurseries). Mr Ilhamuddin indicated that he provided training during May 2006 to people in Chakwal (Punjab) region to enable then to follow the model being used in NWFP.

Recommendation: There is already a well established infrastructure in place for the nursery management. The nurseries need clean material which is virus free and true to type. The assistance in skilled virus indexing and nursery management is required for the Pakistani nurserymen through the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department. This can be achieved by utilising the resources at the research stations in NWFP and Punjab. The training should include good nursery propagation and management practices. A detailed knowledge on care of the nursery trees in terms of irrigation and nutrition management practices should also be provided.

Training is also required in isolation techniques, virus indexing techniques, variety characterisation and sterilisation techniques.

The model and methods used by AusCitrus at NSW DPI, Dareton could be useful for the Pakistan industry.

Crop Management:

During the visit to NWFP and Punjab regions a range of crop management issues were identified.

Irrigation: Irrigation system in all areas is almost all flood type irrigation. Flood irrigation is no longer practiced in Australia because of the inefficiencies and high water use. The system can also lead to water logging in heavy or poorly drained soils. As well, the tree trunk comes in contact with water and this can cause disease problems (Phytophthora). There is no control over the amount of water being absorbed by the tree or lost during leaching or run-off. The quality of water could be an issue as well in certain areas. Intercropping (as practiced in Pakistan) is an added problem as the intercrop (wheat, cotton, melons) may have different water requirements or compete with the citrus tree to fulfil its water requirements.

Recommendation. The current system needs modification. An initial step would be to covert the present system into furrow irrigation system, as this would improve water use efficiency. Other options include drip systems and mini-sprinklers. The following would be required for demonstration sites:

1. Hands-on training needs to be provided to the growers 2. Controlled irrigation trials are possible in the germplasm unit at Palai. 3. An irrigation trial on a drip irrigation system could be established in the newly

established orchards of Dist Nowshehra (Manki Sharif) and also on the mature orchards in NWFP and in Punjab, providing good training was in place local team members.

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4. There should be enough material available to establish the system. 5. Growers need to be educated and trained about the importance and rationale for

reducing water use.

Fruit Thinning: Fruit thinning is not practiced in any orchards of NWFP or Punjab. There is no concept of fruit thinning (to increase individual fruit size) because more fruit on the trees is regarded as a ‘good season’ with higher returns. Harvest contractors pay more money for the full bearing trees than low cropping trees. However, this leads to the problem of smaller and poor quality fruit at harvest in the current growing season and reduced cropping (biennial bearing) the following season. During the scoping visit it was apparent that 2006 was a low cropping year. In contrast to harvest contractor preferences, exporters need more ‘export grade larger sized fruit. Currently only 30% of the crop is of suitable grade.

Recommendation. The rationale and skill for fruit thinning can be transferred immediately and the growers/extension officers can be trained in crop load estimation and where necessary, fruit removal for both orange and mandarin crops. A fruit size prediction model would also be helpful – to predict the final fruit size very early in the season and provide advice to fruit processors and exporters on crop estimates. At this stage Australian R & D has produced a model for oranges and the development of a model for mandarin could be undertaken in the ASLP project as part of the research component. At least 3 years data would be required to develop and modify the model.

Flower Suppression: Flower suppression is a useful strategy for controlling crop load without wasting the stored carbohydrates which would be consumed in flowering and fruit set. Flower suppression is generally practiced in Australia and a commercial GA3 formulation (Ralex®) is registered for it use in mandarins (Khurshid, 2005). Ralex® eliminates the unwanted types of flowers (leafless or white blossom which set poorly) and improves flowering by leaving a reasonable percentage of leafy type flowers which set better fruit. Currently, Australian R & D has generated enough knowledge about the application timings and rates for effective use and it could be trailed in Pakistan. Pakistan’s warm sunny winter weather is ideal for the use of this product.

Recommendation: Promotion of this technique would require proper extension officer/grower training, as the identification of particular stage of phenological development is important. Current Australian research is focussing on determining the required number of chill units prior to flower initiation stage. Cost and availability in Pakistan could be issues. Flower suppression research could be included at little cost in the research component of the project. Potential collaborators are Dr Basharat from Faisalabad University and Dr Ghulam Nabi from Agriculture Research Station, Tarnab (NWFP).

Pruning/Training/Reworking: Improvement of pruning practice was identified as a major issue in the Punjab and NWFP. Many farmers fear that pruning equates with removal of crop leading to yield losses. However unpruned trees a strong tendency of biennial bearing of poor quality fruit. It was apparent to the scoping team that improved pruning of trees would enhance spray penetration for crop protection and enhance yields due to improved and more vigorous growth.

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Reworking and interstock propagation are not normally practiced in Pakistan. However, there may some research work on the practices at one or two research institutes with little commercial output. Reworking is necessary for the growers who want to change their cultivar and interstocks are important if the current rootstock does not have all the desired characteristics.

Recommendations: Australia has good expertise in tree pruning and Pakistani extension officers/growers could be readily trained. Reworking could, be trailed on a few trees to assess how a new cultivar or existing cultivar performed. Reworking may also be a key strategy to rehabilitate trees with poor canopy and vegetative growth. In such cases however, root or rootstock issues would need to be checked.

Cultivars and Rootstock: Two mandarin cultivars “Kinnow” and “Fuetrall’s Early” predominate in the Punjab regions. Kinnow is a late maturing cultivar and fruit are still on the tree at the next year’s flowering time. Many other varieties have been trailed in the past but none proved suitable. Oranges are grown mainly in NWFP and the orchards are scattered all over the province (and flowering and fruiting at different times).

Generally, two main rootstocks are used commercially in Pakistan. Sour Orange (Citrus aurantium) is mainly used in NWFP for orange production, while Rough Lemon (Citrus jahambiri) is used to grow Kinnow mandarins in different districts of Punjab. However, there are a range of different rootstocks growing at research stations and germplasm units but they have not been commercialised. There may be scope within the project to introduce and trial other rootstocks with desired trait (virus and Phytophthora resistance, salt tolerance).

Excessive tree size was the other problem identified with the citrus trees growing on the current rootstocks. Excessive tree size diverts growth resources away from flowering and fruiting and large trees are difficult to manage. Harvesting costs are high and pesticide spray and fertiliser requirements are heavy. Trifoliata rootstock is a dwarfing type and could overcome some of the size problems in Pakistan.

Recommendations: The project could introduce virus free planting material of a range of public access scion cultivars. Seeds for promising rootstock such as Poncirus trifoliata could be exported to Pakistan to carry out the evaluation under Pakistani conditions. Mike Arnold (AusCitrus) has already been contacted in this regard. As Pakistan has no lengthy holding period for the plant material and seeds in quarantine, quick progress could be made to evaluate available new material from Australia.

As well, at Dareton (NSW DPI) a large rootstock project is under way to assess the horticultural performance of a range of rootstocks with lemons, mandarins and navel oranges. It may be possible to make use of some of the findings in the ASLP project.

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Irrigation of citrus in Pakistan – Observations and recommendations BY JEREMY GIDDINGS, NSW DPI.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the trip was to identify opportunities for transferring Australian knowledge and expertise to key sectors of the Pakistan citrus industry, to contribute to poverty alleviation of farmers and to enhance the capacity of the Pakistan agricultural extension program to deliver improved technologies to farmers.

OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Surface irrigation. There are generally two types of surface irrigation systems employed in Pakistan, these being the broadly applied flood method (Figures 1-3), and that applied in a type of furrow or strip irrigation (Figures 4-6)

Figure 1. Flood irrigation observed in the NW Frontier Province. Irrigation is applied from one corner of the patch and moves by gravity in all directions throughout the orchard. Little cultivation occurs in this situation and different trees receive varying amounts of water.

Figure 2. In this situation weeds are usually (but not always) manually removed from under each tree, and depressions formed to increase water applications around and under each tree.

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Figure 3. Broad acre flood irrigation. Soil is cultivated between every irrigation with the orchard completely flooded from one corner of the patch. Water application appears more uniform throughout the orchard, however, the nature of flood irrigation makes this application still very uneven, and extremely excessive.

Figure 4. Furrow type irrigation along permanent furrows run along the tree line, supplied with irrigation from concrete head ditches. Trees become excessively wet in this situation, encouraging root diseases such as Phytophthora gummosis. Disease is also spread between trees in the irrigation water.

In this situation mid row crops are able to be grown by manually diverting the water down another furrow. Vegetable crops for family consumption, as well as feed for stock, are grown this way.

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Figure 5. Furrow type irrigation on continually cultivated soil. Each tree is connected by a furrow with an expanded depression surrounding each tree to allow each tree to receive additional water. Clean, well formed furrows such as this were uncommon in Pakistan, with this system found only at the Citrus Research Station at Sargodha. Excessive wetting of the butts of the trees still occurs in this situation.

Figure 6. Similar furrow type irrigation on the side of a hill. Water moves by gravity from one tree to the next through small furrows connecting larger, cleared depressions around each tree.

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All of the current surface irrigation methods result in wetting and waterlogging of the tree butts, which encourages trunk disease. This is a particular concern in Pakistan where general nursery practice is to have bud unions very low to the ground.

Permanent and semi permanent furrow systems need to be employed with the use of reduced tillage. This will reduce diesel costs as well as improve root health and allow the tree to be irrigated and fertilised in a consistent manner. The medium to heavy soil types require that the butts of the trees not be exposed to water as frequently as is currently experienced. In many cases soil is mounded around the base of the tree in an attempt to reduce the amount of water reaching the butts. This is having mixed success. Firstly physical damage is reportedly occurring to the butts when mounding is carried out by hand (Figure 6), increasing the likelihood of trunk disease.

Surface roots are damaged also. Cultivation in the early years of the orchard occurs right up to the tree line. From the limited soil profiles we observed, root zones are only approximately 50-60cm deep. If cultivation continually removes the top 10-15cm of potential root zone, this severely restricts the trees ability to remain healthy during hot conditions.

Recommendations. Improved flood / furrow management was recognised as an area that could be improved in the short term, and if done properly would help facilitate the adoption to pressurised irrigation. Trial work needs to be carried out to look at the effects of;

• Furrow arrangements, sizes, shapes, number, effect of soil type • Machinery development required to produce the furrows • Furrow irrigation methods needed to facilitate the production of relatively efficiently

irrigated mid row crops to sustain families and livestock requirements. Techniques need to be developed in order to reduce the current effect over irrigation has on young citrus trees.

• Furrow irrigation management and fertiliser broadcasting methods to reduce leaching losses

Pressurised irrigation. The adoption of pressurised irrigation systems, such as drip and sprinkler irrigation for citrus, is virtually non existent in Pakistan. There are many reasons for this, including:

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• High perceived capital costs (quoted at approximately 25,000 RU/acre or $560 AU. In Australia costs of $3,000-4,000 per acre are standard. Advisers in Pakistan may not be taking into account power supply, with electricity infrastructure poor in regional areas of Pakistan)

• Lack of local expertise to provide agronomic and engineering advice • Poor availability of materials • Perceived cost of repairs due to animal damage • Lack of research and readily available case studies / examples.

Recommendation. From discussions throughout the tour, a consistent message received was that adoption of pressurised systems was a long way off, however, it seemed that most felt that adoption was inevitable in the long term. This is due to the future cost and availability of water, and recent industry exposure to the production levels obtained in countries such as Australia. As adoption is inevitable, Government agencies must begin trial work to determine the effectiveness and agronomic requirements of pressurised irrigation, particularly drip irrigation, under Pakistani conditions.

Baseline recommendations must be obtained, such as:

• Citrus water requirements – for scheduling and system design purposes • Recommendations for using poor quality water from tube wells • Production potentials, improved early production, cost benefit analysis • Agronomic issues – number of droplines per row, flow and application rates,

demonstrated improvement to soil health • Suitable system design in order to retain the ability to continue to grow a mid-row

crop • Filtration requirements using Pakistan water supplies.

This trial work should begin on research station orchards and be used as a model farm and an example to industry.

Supply infrastructure. In order to confidently adopt on-farm irrigation technology managers must have the confidence that the available water supply will meet the demands of this technology. This generally means that water is supplied to irrigators in a flexible and frequent manner.

Recommendation. There are proposals that the extensive canal system may be upgraded throughout parts of the country. If this is occurs it is important that the possible future adoption of this on-farm technology be considered in the design stage of the new infrastructure to provide the capacity to meet these demands. Fifty to 100 year timeframes must be considered. If the supply infrastructure is designed without this in mind, a great opportunity to remove a major barrier to the adoption of technology would have been missed.

Another inevitable step must be towards a user pays arrangement regarding water costs. This would require some sort of metering system at each property (such as dethridge wheels) to measure actual water use, but again would remove another barrier to efficient irrigation practices by rewarding good managers through lower water charges.

Irrigation scheduling. Adoption of irrigation scheduling seemed to be non-existent in Pakistan. The current on-farm infrastructure and irrigation methods do not allow efficient

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scheduling to be conducted. However, from experience, it has been found in Australia that the adoption of some form of basic scheduling, such as tensiometers, can be used as a step towards improved practices and efficient irrigation management regardless of the existing limitations. Tools such as tensiometers are seen as the most likely introduction method. The successful use of climate based scheduling is unlikely due to the low literacy rate reported in the regional areas and the possible lack of readily available data needed to produce Eto and crop coefficient figures.

Irrigator education. A financial assistance package to encourage irrigators to adopt irrigation technology is being proposed in Pakistan. One of these proposals to assist in the adoption of pressurised irrigation systems is:

Irrigator be given 50% grant

40% low interest loan (< 4% suggested)

10% self funded

Similar assistance in Australia (although not nearly as attractive) has hastened the adoption of irrigation technology and resulted in an improvement to water use efficiency. It has had a tremendous effect on improving adoption at all levels. Irrigators who previously used surface irrigation methods moved to pressurised systems. Those who had already adopted pressurised systems improved these existing systems by implementing technology such as automation and variable speed pumping units.

A requirement in Australia for irrigators to receive this funding was the completion of a basic irrigation training course. This not only helped facilitate adoption but also gave irrigators the skills needed to make the adoption of this technology a success.

If adopted in Pakistan, training would primarily involve soil and tree water relations, furrow irrigation management and irrigation scheduling. It should also introduce basic aspects of pressurised irrigation management with a view that adoption of these systems will one day occur.

Recommendation. It is recommended that some form of irrigator training become a prerequisite in order to receive financial assistance for irrigation system improvements.

SUMMARY - IRRIGATION

The Pakistan citrus industry has some serious challenges it must address in order to reach production levels similar to that experienced in other countries. Irrigation management is a significant production factor that must be improved.

Two main aspects of on-farm irrigation have been identified for improvement. These are:

1) The need to improve the current level of surface irrigation. This would generally involve facilitating the move from flood irrigation to furrow irrigation. The furrow system most suited to the local conditions, while avoiding excessive butt wetting but still allow irrigators to produce a mid-row crop, should be developed.

2) Trial work into the feasibility and likely success of drip irrigation for citrus orchards under Pakistani conditions. Basic information such as crop water use and design specifications must begin to be determined to cater for the eventual demand from industry.

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Pest and Disease Management: Observations & Recommendations

Andrew Beattie

Centre for Plant and Food Science

University of Western Sydney

email: a.beattie@uws.edu.au

OBSERVATIONS

Climate

The climates of the Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province are harsher than in any citrus growing region in Australia. In Pakistan temperatures frequently exceed 45°C from late spring to early autumn. In Australia daily maximum temperatures do exceed 40°C, but not in all regions annually, and in regions where they do exceed 40°C they may not do so annually and when they do the frequency is generally less than 10 days per year.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Average Sunlight (h) 6 7 6 8 9 10 9 9 8 9 8 7

Min 4 6 11 16 21 25 26 26 22 14 8 4 Average

Max 17 19 24 29 37 41 39 37 36 31 25 19

Min -3 -1 2 5 11 18 21 20 14 11 1 -2

Temperature

Record

Max 24 30 34 42 48 49 50 48 43 38 33 28

Discomfort from heat and

humidity

- - - Medium High Extreme Extreme Extreme High Medium Moderate -

am 73 75 68 59 41 43 61 70 65 60 63 73 Relative humidity

pm 45 43 43 39 28 25 38 45 39 32 40 42

Average Precipitation (mm) 36 38 61 46 20 8 33 51 20 5 8 18

Wet Days (+ 0.25 mm) 3 3 5 4 2 1 2 3 2 1 1 2

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Figure 1. Average weather data for Peshawar (Northwest Frontier Province)

Orchards

There were noticeable differences between orchard management practices currently practiced in Australia and those practiced in Pakistan. In Australia, planting densities are double or more than double those in Pakistan. This has clear implications for yield per hectare. Orchards were also cultivated several times per year. I am certain that this practice has negative impacts on biological control of pests, particularly Asiatic citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) and citrus thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis), by reducing the abundance of natural enemies within trees and in soil below trees. Propagation of non-disease free trees from nurseries clearly increased the proportion of trees infected with huanglongbing (citrus greening) in orchards: in Asia, the disease is caused by a phloem limited bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (α-Proteobacteria) and transmitted by the Asiatic citrus psyllid (ACP).

I did not see pesticides being applied. However, it was clear that application practices were less mechanised, and less effective, than practices in Australia.

The most common pests observed in orchards were ACP and citrus leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella). Damage (scarring) caused by citrus thrips was also evident on immature fruit on mature trees in Mr Noon’s orchard at Sargodha in the Punjab. Some of this scarring was also due to wind blemish and possibly to citrus scab (Elsinoe fawcettii). Due to the timing of the visit, damage to mature fruit was not observed. The infestations of ACP were the highest that I have observed anywhere in my extensive travels in Southeast Asia: they were very high. This was quite surprising as I had hoped that the harsh conditions would not have been so favourable for the psyllid. The abundance of the psyllid under such conditions means that the

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current modelling that indicates relatively poor survival in the hottest citrus growing regions of Australia will have to be revised.

Figure 2. Gravid adult Asiatic citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) females on lemon (Citus × limon) flush growth at the orchard of Mr Fazle Wahid at Palai, Malakand (17 July 2006).

Huanglongbing (HLB), citrus canker (probably one or all of the following: Xanthomonas smithii subsp. citri, Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. aurantifolii (sic)and Xanthomonas alfalfae subsp. citrumelo), and phytophthora were the most common diseases I observed. Of these, the most serious was HLB. However, the presence and severity of this disease appeared to be not widely recognised in Pakistan where ‘citrus decline’ is considered to be caused by several factors including, poor nutrition, nematodes, orchard management practices, and in some instances HLB. However, I saw nothing to convince me that HLB is not the major contributing factor to citrus decline. The disease is present in Pakistan (we know this from recent collaborative research based on PCR) and its vector is, as noted above, very abundant. This said: trees appear to live much longer in Pakistan than in milder tropical regions of Southeast Asia, where entire orchards can die within 5-7 years of planting. This suggests that the major reason for confusion/disagreement over the presence and severity of the disease may be due to severe impacts of high summer temperatures on the multiplication and survival of the bacterium on outer portions of tree canopies. This possibility is supported by the fact that, in China, heat treatment for 10 minutes at 50°C is a recommended treatment for killing the bacterium in budwood. If summer temperatures do reduce bacterial titres in outer canopies, then spread of the disease would be slower under such circumstances than under milder temperatures. The percentage of psyllids infected with the bacterium would be lower and, therefore, spread from tree to tree possibly slower (the high incidence of the psyllid would also be a factor). If these conclusions are correct then management of HLB in Pakistan within the normal productive lifespan of an orchard (some 20-25 years in Australia in the absence of HLB) should be much easier to achieve than elsewhere in most of Southeast Asia.

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Figure 3. Yellow shoot disease (‘huang long bing’) at the Subtropical Fruits Germplasm Unit, Sherkhana, Malakand (17 July 2006)

Scales and mealybugs were at very low incidence. I attributed this to the impact of high temperatures on crawlers (the motile first instars of scales and mealybugs) and young settled stages. This was at first a surprise, particularly for red scale (Aonidiella aurantii), Australia’s most serious pest of citrus, which flourishes in the warm to hot citrus districts of Australia.

Mite damage was not evident.

Irrigation practices were poor.

Control of citrus canker appeared to be inadequate on young trees: this was possibly related to relative incidences of citrus leafminer and proportions of immature and mature foliage on non-bearing and bearing trees.

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Figure 4. Jeremy Giddings and Allahdad Khan, Director General, Agricultural Extension, Government of the Northwest Frontier Province, in front of trees with severe symptoms of

huanglongbing at Mr Fazle Malik’s orchard at Bat Khela, Malakand (17 July 2006).

Nurseries

We visited one nursery. Distortion of foliage on young seedlings was quite evident. This suggested induced damage by citrus thrips, with the extent of damage related to the impact of excessive pesticide use on soil-dwelling natural enemies of the thrips. This was of concern. But of greater concern was the fact that budwood was being obtained from HLB-infected mother trees in an adjacent mature grove (some of these trees were dying). Of equal concern was the presence of dodder (Cuscuta sp.), a parasitic plant that is known to be able to transmit Ca. L. asiaticus. I was dismayed that it was present in the nursery.

Figure 5. Dodder (Cuscuta sp.), a parasitic plant in which the huanglongbing bacterium can grow: on nursery citrus seedlings at Mr Abdur Rasheed Khan’s nursery at Sargodha, Punjab (21 July 2006)

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Figure 6. Leaf damage resembling that of pesticide-induced severe infestations of citrus thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) at Mr Abdur Rasheed Khan’s nursery at Sargodha, Punjab (21

July 2006)

Figure 7. Mature mother tree dying principally from huanglongbing infection: Mr Abdur Rasheed Khan’s nursery at Sargodha, Punjab (21 July 2006)

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Figure 8. Huanglongbing leaf symptoms on dying mature mother tree: Mr Abdur Rasheed Khan’s nursery at Sargodha, Punjab (21 July 2006)

Research and Extension

It was clear that research and extension can be greatly improved. There appeared to be limited communication/collaboration between entities. Research and extension also appeared to be under-funded. Most institutions, including Faisalabad Agricultural University, appeared to be poorly equipped and access to literature appeared to be limited.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Malakand

The nature of the Swat Valley in Malakand offers an opportunity to remove all citrus and citrus relatives (e.g. Bergera koenigii and Murraya spp.) in the valley, and in similar valleys, and to replant the valleys with ACP and disease-free plants. This would be a radical step but would lead, with appropriate quarantine measures, to an ACP and HLB-free citrus (predominantly orange) industry.

Orchards

Trees need to be planted at higher densities: this would be the simplest and most effective means of increasing yields.

Irrigation practices need to be radically altered: improved irrigation would also lead to increased yields.

The practice of cultivating (particularly within the root zone of trees) and intercropping (other than for sod culture) should be discouraged. Sod culture (sowing and management of perennial grasses and other plants in interrow spaces) should be practiced so as to improve orchard environments and thereby increase the abundance of natural enemies. Higher organic matter in soil under trees, and reduced disruption of root zones, would increase the abundance and diversity of soil dwelling organisms, including generalist predators that would

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help to reduce populations of citrus thrips. Grasses and other plants would provide, for example, pollen for beneficial predatory mites and host plants for insects on which generalist predators could feed.

Trees should be monitored for HLB at least twice annually (in early spring and late autumn) and parts of trees or whole trees exhibiting symptoms should be removed. The most accurate but costly means of confirming presence of the disease once symptoms have been observed is use of PCR. However, simple microscopy to check for phloem degeneration caused by the bacterium, and checking for a several (e.g. characteristic mottling, vein corking, yellowing a branch but not a whole tree, small upright mottled leaves, distorted fruit, miscoloured fruit, aborted seeds) rather than one symptom (e.g. mottling that resembles zinc deficiency) can also be used.

Nurseries

Nursery practices need to be radically improved. Nurseries should be established for the production of certified disease-free trees. Budwood should only be sourced from disease-free mother trees. Trees should be propagated in insect-proof screenhouses: trees must be propagated in the absence of ACP and dodder so as to prevent HLB infection, and citrus leafminer (CLM) so as to reduce the incidence of citrus canker. Use of screenhouses constructed to exclude ACP and CLM would help to minimise that use of pesticides in the screenhouses and other practices could be used to reduce the incidence and impact of citrus thrips.

Research and Extension

Better integration on research and extension activities is required to ensure effective transfer of technologies to all farmers. The Australian Cittgroup model should be considered, as should joint grower-government funding of research and extension through establishment of agencies similar to Horticulture Australia Limited.

Research on the role of HLB in citrus decline is required. Given the observations reported above, this research should initially focus on determining the seasonal incidence of Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus in terminal growth flushes, mature leaves in the centre of canopies, bark and possibly roots, and seasonal variation in proportions of ACP adults (or fifth instar nymphs) transmitting the disease (i.e. those containing the bacterium). The incidence of nematodes, phytophthora and nutrient deficiencies should be monitored on the same plants. All components of the research should involve growers and extension personnel.

I anticipate that this research would show that high temperatures limit bacterial survival and titres in trees from mid to late spring to early to mid autumn, and that this limits the proportion of ACP adults transmitting the disease and the rate of spread of the disease within trees and between trees. If so, it should be possible to develop programs that focus on strategic application of sprays for control of ACP at the onset of spring and autumn growth flushes. These sprays would also suppress CLM populations and the incidence of citrus canker. If feasible, use of mineral oils should be evaluated as biorational alternative to synthetic insecticides for control of ACP and CLM. Neem should also be evaluated for control of both of these pests.

Research should also assess the impact of guava interplants on the incidence o ACP, CLM and citrus canker in the first 3-4 years following establishment of a citrus orchard. This suggestion is based on recent research and observations in Viet Nam that suggest that interplanting with guava leads to substantially lower incidence of ACP, HLB and CLM,

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reduced pesticide use (and therefore costs) and higher farm incomes as guava bears fruit 2-3 years earlier after planting than citrus. Fruit fly management in guava would need to be determined but options include bagging of fruit (as practiced in Viet Nam) and push-pull strategies based on the use of mineral oil or neem sprays (to repel flies from fruit: the push) and baits (to attract and poison flies: the pull).

Illustrated fact sheets on HLB and its vector should be prepared and distributed to extension personnel and farmers. Field days should be held to show farmers how to monitor for symptoms of HLB and for the presence of ACP. Manuals on citrus IPM should be prepared for farmers and extension personnel.

The research and extension outlined above should be incorporated into the proposed ACIAR project. Additional research should be undertaken as part of jointly supervised PhD projects with scholarships for students being made available from the Higher Education Commission in Pakistan and/or under the ASLP program. In addition to research as part of PhD studies, additional short-term training should be undertaken in integrated pest management, functioning of Cittgroups and other relevant areas of research and extension. Links should be forged with extension agencies, including CABI. Farmer Field Schools should form part of extension programs.

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Appendix 5 Pakistan Citrus Industry - Constraints Analysis and Scoping Visit, July 2006 - Notes and Observations

Collated by Greg Johnson

Appendix 5 A Notes and Observations

Pakistan Citrus Industry (S.R.A. Khan (2006?) http://www.pakissan.com/english/agri.overview/citrus.quality.to.meet.global.demand.shtml )

Pakistan’s citrus production overtook mango in both area and production of horticultural crops in 1974-75 after the introduction of Kinnow cultivar of mandarin by the then Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur (now the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad). About 94 per cent of citrus production area is in the Punjab, 2.3 per cent in the Sindh, 2.4 per cent in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and 1.3 per cent in Balochistan out of the total 171,000 hectares. Out of the total production of 1,702,800 tonnes of citrus, the Punjab produces 95.5 per cent; the Sindh 1.6 per cent, the NWFP 2.2 per cent and Balochistan 0.7 per cent. The Punjab’s predominance is the due to availability of land and water and a favourable climate. Sargodha, Sahiwal and Toba Tek Singh are the major citrus producing districts of the Punjab. Kinnow mandarin accounts for 70 per cent of citrus production and the crop is one of the major sources of income to small and medium size growers and traders. Most intercrop citrus with wheat, cotton, fodder, melons or vegetables and inter-tree cultivation and flood irrigation are normally practiced.

In most other citrus regions, other mandarin cultivars predominate and although Kinnow is considered ‘too seedy’ it is obviously well adapted to the harsh (high summer temperature) conditions of the Punjab.

Info presented by Director, Orange Research Institute, Sargodha July, 2006: While conditions for good citrus production are well known, in the Sargodha area, soil pH 8.2-8.3 up to 8.6-8.7, climate with 40 days where temperatures exceed 45°C with some up to 50 °C. Under these conditions, organic matter levels very low (0.3-0.5%) and irrigation water quality not ideal – where tube wells are used, supply is insufficient and of poor quality. As a consequence, yields 9 Tonne/ha. Other problems include micronutrient deficiencies (Zn, Cu, B, Mn), disease (bacterial canker), pests (psyllids, lemon butterfly, fruit fly, mealy bug; non-awareness of need to use certified nursery stock, limited rootstocks, poor sourcing of seed for rootstocks. Under ideal conditions, Kinnow has high yield potential (5000 fruit/tree) but 20% of industry produces 2000 fruit/tree and 70% produces 130 fruit/tree??).

While R & D investment under ASLP in the Punjab Kinnow industry is likely to yield most impact, the blood orange industry of the NWFP is an important component of the rural economy in a region that is both strategically important agriculturally challenging. For these reasons the ASLP citrus scoping mission visited both the Sargodha and the NWFP citrus regions.

Farm Visits

North West Frontier Province

Peshawar http://www.frontierarchaeology.gov.pk/editor/index.php?mode=view&id=24

About half of the valley has soils formed in the loess or re-deposited loess. The soil formed in the loess occupies the northern, eastern and southern periphery of the valley, while the reworked loess occurs in

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the Mardan basin. Parts of the loess plains have suffered from water erosion, transforming the area into an undulating landscape cut by gullies. They range in texture from silt loam to silty clays. The soil of Malakand is loamy and moist, and is irrigated by the Swat River which flows from Swat, through Kohistan and joins the river Kabul near Peshawar.

Climate Peshawar Plain - winter average temperature 16 °C, with average rainfall within this period between 76 to 100 mm). Spring temperatures slowly rise and reaches 46 °C or more. Whilst humidity is normally low, dust storms are common during this period. Summer: temperatures slowly drop with occasional rains. The air is densely hazy, with frequent dust storms, especially in July and the last half of June. Autumn is the most settled time of the year with clear skies, light rain and mild winds. The temperature falls quickly and reaches 8°C in the early mornings.

Malakand http://www.khyber.org/pashtoplaces/malakand.shtml

(also see http://malakand.8m.com/contact.html )

Mon 17 July

0730-1000 Travel from Peshawar to Palai, Malakand

1000-1100 Visit the orchard of Mr. Fazle Wahid in (i) Palai Village, Malakand

1100-1300 Visit (ii) Sher Khana Village germplasm Unit in Malakand

1200-1430 Visit the orchard of Fazle Malik in (ii) Bazdara Village, Malakand + Lunch

1430-1630 Travel to Mardan

1630-1730 Visit orchard of Saleem Khan, Baroch Village, Mardan

1830-2000 Visit orchard of Mr Muhammad Iqdal, Shahbazghari Village, Mardan

2000-2300 Travel to Islamabad & reach Serena

Peshawar-Islamabad

Serena Hotel

Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy

Islamabad

Tel:051-111-133-133 Fax:051-2871001

Figure 1. Satellite picture of North West Frontier province. Malakand (purple pointer upper left, Mardan Purple pointer mid-right, Peshawar pink pointer).

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The North West Frontier Province citrus industry is small and scattered. Production is less than 5 % of Pakistan citrus (c.f. Y% in the Punjab) and is mainly of blood orange. Grown in small plots of A to B trees generally with tree spacing of H X B m. Despite the small size, the industry markets fruit throughout Pakistan.

Figure 2. Farm locations visited .

The scoping team visited 4 orchards (out of an initial list of 5) (map), representing 2 growing regions, Malakand which was hotter and harsher and Mardan which is expanding as a production area. Farms visited in Malakand:

Mr Fazli Wahid Palai Valley, Malakand – medium scale grower (met Obaid-Ullah Ag Officer, Thanapulli and Saif Khan (IBM, Southampton 8khans@uk.ibm.com) )

Mr Fasli Malik, Palai Valley, Malakand medium grower (came to Australia in citrus delegation). Water expensive in NWFP, Mr Malik sells water to neighbours for 20% of neighbour’s production. Wheat, cucurbits, maize grown intercrop. Local prices for fruit : Mango Rs 40/kg, peaches, Rs 30/kg (for second grade fruit).

The Director of Extension in NWFP, Mr Allahdad Khan, accompanied us throughout the visit to NWFP. Mr Mian Majaedullah, Horticulturist (E. mian-mjd@yahoo.com ) accompanied us in Malakand. The Provincial extension agency has been working with CABI on BAP (best

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agricultural practice) using farmer field school approach to address a range of productivity improvement issues.

Malakand. Dry stony country with orchards located in isolated valleys and interplanted with wheat (in winter or spring?) along with apricots, peaches, guava and persimmons. Intercrops included maize and cucurbits. Citrus mainly blood orange. Production has moved from Malakand in recent years to Mardan because of losses due to “dieback” (which could be huanglongbing). May-June and October-November are dry, other months rainy.

Impressions: Citrus blocks variable and less well managed than adjacent apricot and peach blocks which have been developed under Swiss Development Co-operation (SDC) and were well pruned. Citrus plants 3-4 m high small-leaved, fruit numbers low and 2 in diameter. Leaf curl, twiggy growth, patches of dieback, chlorotic leaves and flushes typical of HLB. Some leaf minor, psyllids common, some canker. A mother tree planting was visited and this was severely infected with HLB. Avenues of Eucalyptus camalulensis through out province (replacing the native Dilbergia). Citrus sold for Rs4-5 farm-gate.

9 research stations in NWFP some include horticulture. Fruit and vegetables main ag sector in NWFP (peach, potato, tomatoes, onion and grapes in southern areas), but livestock almost equal

Mardan. Plantings better maintained, but HLB and leaf minor still evident also greasy spot.

Pesticide use. Not widespread, some cypermethrin and antracol (for anthracnose). Gathered some info on labour costs and yield which is much lower than Australia. Farms visited:

Mr Saleem Khan Mardan 200 acres. Problems – wither tip (Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes), dieback, canker, whiteflies, thrips, aphids, leaf miner. Antracol used for greasy spot?. NPK as 2 kg DAP/plant, 1 kg urea/plant in 2 applications, 40 kg farm yard manure every second year. Labour inputs: 4 permanent workers, 12 casuals (Rs 100/month). Yield 10 T/ha, first grade fruit sell Rs 40-50/dozen second grade sell for rs 20-25/dozen. Wheat make Rs 5-600/ac citrus – Rs 27,000/ac

Mr Muhammad Iqbal Shabazghani. 300 acres – 4000 citrus trees. Blood red and ruby (we had met his cousin (who grows loquats) (Ikramullah Khan, E drubhous@brain.net.pk ) the evening we arrived in Peshawar). An elaborate report provided.

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Punjab

Our visit to the citrus areas of the Punjab focussed on the production area around Sargodha. We also passed beside production areas on road from Islamabad to Faisalabad.

Sargodha background information. 2005-2006 production 823825 tons from 188635 acres, average yield 11.7 tons?. 12689 Kinnow farmers, 149082 acres under Kinnow (10, 764 ac under Fuetrell’s early, 11,815 ac under Mussambi, 2,222 ac under blood red)

Problems: Scarcity of water (getting irrigation water when needed, brackish tube well water), pests and diseases, fertilizer imbalance, poor management. Farmer training (since 2001-2002 in 2005-06 29 trainers, covered 520 villages and trained 15680 people (in progress> 17223 in 2004-05). Points emphasised pest/disease control. Balance/timing of fertilizer, weed control, proper management, selection of ‘true’ citrus plants.

Challenges for export (per Dist Extension, Sargodha): need to ‘modernise production, high freight and ‘war risk charges for fruit passing thru Afghanistan, access to efficient transport from Sargodha (e.g. PIA cargo. A/C containers for rail), need to establish ‘dry port’ or export processing zone, need to educate exporters on international market requirements, need to promote Kinnow in export markets.

Thu

20

July

0730-0930 Travel from Faisalabad & arrival via motorway and Ajnala road to Sargodha (90 km)

0930-1100 Meeting & visit research plot of Orange Research Institute (ORI) Mr. Niaz Ahmad Chaudhary, Director, ORI, Sargodha

+ Chaudhary Muhammad Mohsin Waraich, Vice President, Farmers Association & Administrator Market Committee Bhalwal

1130-1400 Lunch with & visit orchard of

Mr. Fayaz Ahmad Noon (large grower)

325-DD, Phase IV, DHA, Lahore

1430-1530 Visit orchard of Mr. Khalid Aziz (medium grower) at Chak 9 N.B.

1600-1700 Visit Kinnow orchard of Mr. Imran (small grower) at Chak 9 N. B.

1730 Back to & Night stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

Faisalabad-Sargodha

& night stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

Fri 0700-0900 Visit local Fruit Market in Sargodha contact

Chaudhry Muhammad Shariff Kisana

Extra Asst. Director of Agriculture, Economics & Markets,

Followed by meeting with Market Committee + Harvest contractors

1000-1130 Visit Citro Pak Juice Processing Plant at 12km Lahore road

1200-1400 Visit + Lunch with Kinnow processor i.e. grader & exporter

Mr. Quasim Aijaz, Roshan Enterprises, 9-Chak Lokri, Kot Momin Road, Bhalwal

Within Sargodha

& stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

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1415-1500 Visit Zahid Kinnow processing plant

1600-1700 Visit Organic Fruit Farm of Mr. Iqbal Gondal, Barmosa 25 Km. from Salam Interchange.; Tehsil Malik Waal District Mandi Bahauddin (If time permits & if necessary)

1800 Back to & night stay at Circuit House, Sargodha

Sat 0900-1500 Mini workshop to be held at Bhalwal (venue to be decided)

1600-1900 Travel from Sargodha to Islamabad (around 260kms) & stay at Best Western Hotel

Sargodha-Islamabad

Best Western

6 Club Road, Islamabad

Sargodha district farm visits

Mr Noon (fanoon17@hotmail.com ) SMW farms, Sher Mohammad Wala, Tehsil Bhalwal - 175 acres of citrus, 90 fruiting. 35 still to plant. Also has established a feedlot for cattle. Les Baxter introduced the idea of a ‘best practice group’ within which farmers share yield and financial data c.f. industry averages to see how/what practices may improve productivity based on shared experiences. Further discussion on cultivars grown in Australia including those protected under PVR (Pakistan does not yet have PVR) and salt tolerant rootstocks. Peter Walker mentioned that he grew orange Valencia on Cleo rootstocks for late (February) harvest for the fresh fruit market and this comes later than Valencia on rough lemon.

Visit to farm site used by Agricultural Extension Service for Farmer field schools.

This visited added to itinerary so we could see a field school site. It was an old orchard (trees 30 years), flood irrigated with a high incidence of gummosis.

Visit to Commercial nursery and Citrus research institute Nursery.

Trees sell at Rs 15-18/tree. 200 professional nurseries (mixed lines) with 50% mainly citrus. In Sargodha area 2million Kinnow trees produced /year. Nursery stock raised in ground and budded in ground. CRI stock infested with canker. Commercial nursery infested with HLB and dodder (which transmits HLB).

Citrus Marketing and Processing

Promotion and regulation of fruit marketing and processing in Pakistan is governed at both Federal and provincial levels. At the federal level the Ministries of Commerce (MINCOM), Industry and Food, Agriculture and Land (MINFAL) have responsibilities. Recent reviews on regulation of exports (Parsons et al World Bank-UNIDO 2006) commissioned by MINFAL and imports (Johnson and Malik, UNCTAD 2006) commissioned by MINCOM summarise institutional and regulatory frameworks. At the industry level, the Pakistan Horticultural Development and Export Board (PHDEB) established under MINCOM s laying a key role in promoting market development.

The primary objective of PHDEB is to

• address and resolve problems/ issues for Pakistan horticulture and improve quality management in the horticulture value chain,

• increase horticulture exports from Pakistan.

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Some of the main areas of intervention include:

• Encourage and facilitate “growing for export”. • Impart new technologies and techniques to growers and processors. • Develop/implement export marketing strategies. • Create an export orientated environment facilitated through procedures and quality

standards through regulations and incentive schemes. • Attract local and foreign investment. • Facilitate in setting up of necessary material and quality infrastructure including cool

chain systems. • Develop linkages and networking with relevant institutions i.e. R&D, banks,

training/HRD, joint venture arrangements/commercial linkages with international companies, technology transfer, sub-contracting.

PHDEB provided invaluable assistance and advice in developing the activity program for both the mango supply chain scoping study and the citrus study. In both cases, staff were found to be helpful and knowledgeable. PHDEB has helped in the negotiation of export protocols for mango and Kinnow to Iran and China and in the last season Kinnow exports exceeded the target of 100,000 tonnes. PHDEB participated in local arrangements for the Sargodha visit and in the workshops in Sargodha and Islamabad. PHDEB will be a key partner in the mango supply chain project (HORT/) and through this project results will spill over to the Kinnow supply chain improvement.

Visits to aspects of citrus marketing included visits to a processor, packhouses and the wholesale market in the Sargodha District. Kinnow were not in season but mangoes, peaches and grapes were being handled in the markets. The team also observed market street stalls in Peshawar. Two team members (Amanullah Malik and Greg Johnson) had taken part in the mango supply chain scoping visits and seen various aspects of citrus handling during March-April 2006, and also visited the WTO Unit of MINFAL in Islamabad at the conclusion of this scoping visit.

General information on citrus marketing (Info from PHDEB and Roshan) Kinnow have 6 grades (60-90 mm with 4-6 mm /grade and 5% range in size within in grade. Smaller sized fruit are exported to Asia. Roshan in Sargodha packs January to April and sends to Iran and UAE (300 x 40 ft containers). Exports also to Ukraine, Jeddah, Muscat. Packhouses need to be registered to send to China. Roshan buys for quality (and thus sources widely). Sends to HK by sea (1 month). By road to China will take 4 days. Transit to Ukraine 25 days, Iran – 48h by road, 16-20 days by ship.

BEIJING: China has decided to allow import of Pakistani orange (Kino) with immediate effect, under a recent protocol signed by the two countries, it was officially stated here on Saturday.

• China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has approved seven fruit processing companies of Pakistan to export the product forthwith.

• The companies are Roshan Enterprises, Hasan and Chase International, National Fruit Factory, Arif Overseas, Zahid Kino Grading and Waxing Plant, Sadruddin and Company and Al-Mahmood Establishment.

• Sources told APP that the Pakistani side has been asked to provide a list of orchards from where the fruit will be exported to China. It has been decided that the China’s Quarantine Department will send two inspectors to Pakistan for pre-clearance of the fruit before its loading. It will help expedite the export process, the sources added.

• According to the sources, the arrangements for the export of Pakistani food products were

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thoroughly discussed in a meeting held here last week between the Vice Minister AQSIQ Ge Zhirong and a Pakistani delegation led by Secretary Food, Agriculture and Livestock Muhammad Ismail Qureshi.

• The two sides decided to set up a working group at ministerial level to review and resolve the difficulties that may arise from time to time in export handling.

• During the meeting, the Chinese side agreed to evolve a mechanism to accelerate the process of issuing quarantine certificates for the import of other food items from Pakistan.

• The AQSIQ also showed willingness to consider the import of Pakistani citrus fruit from Guangdong and Shenzen ports, in addition to those already earmarked.

• It was also agreed the food product will be imported almost at zero tariff under the Early harvest programme (EHP) The new trade measures will help to correct the trade imbalance, in which China has a big surplus. It will be up to the private sector to seize the new opportunities, giving boost to the trade ties, the sources added.

source: PHDEB per www.jang.com.pk/thenews.html

CitroPak Limited. Talibwala Rd Sargodha. (Zulifqar Hayat, Director (citropak@sgd.paknet.com.pk ) and Naeem Ashraf, Manager Accounts and Finance)

This professionally run large-scale citrus plant (est. 1989) was formerly owned by Cargill. Some of the former executive staff bought the plant in 2000 when Cargill decided to divest company interests in processing. Main product is frozen juice concentrate but also produced apple and other fruit products. Citropak Ltd. claim: “Our continued success derives from the close working relationship we have built both with our customer and suppliers, together with our ability to adapt to the changing needs of the market.” Crushing capacity 1200 Tonnes /day. EU certified under ISO 9001:2001 and HACCP, exporting to Europe, Australia, SEA, ME, Japan. Supplier to Nestle Pakistan

Our impression was of a professionally run company. Limitations due to short season of operation and sometimes difficulty in sourcing fruit (even in season Jan-March). The continuing viability of this company was seen as an asset for the Pakistan industry (for processing second grade fruit) with potential for diversification to other Kinnow products and fruit varieties. (Mango - June-July, Apple - Nov-December, Pear - August

PAMCO, CitroPak, BoP enter into business accord (The Nation, 2/2/2006 http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/feb-2006/2/bnews1.php ) Excerpts:

…The Bank of Punjab has advanced loan to the tune of Rs 50 million at a low mark up of three per cent. …with the financial input from Bank of Punjab, CitroPak would be able to double its citrus procurement from 35,000 tons to 70,000 tons and likewise extract concentrate to the tune of 5400 tons. ….Hamesh Khan President Bank of Punjab said that kinnow has a very distinctive place in Pakistani agriculture sector. He hoped that the expansion in the operations of Citropak would help the local economy. Kamran Haider, CEO CitroPak said that harsh summer season depletes the water level in the area. What is needed is drip irrigation options to enhance production.

He said that similar options have been experimented in United States and notably in state of Florida, where the citrus production per hectare was 30 tones as compared to 12 tons in Sargodha. ….the modern state-of-art juice extraction unit and the chiller room, which can accommodate up to 30,000 drums of citrus juice concentrate. The unit installed in the factory has the crushing capacity of 500 tones of Kinnow per day.

Sargodha Wholesale Market hosted by Chaudry Muhammad Shariff Kisana, Extra Asst Director of Agriculture, Economics and markets, Sargodha

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Sargodha has a wholesale market where farmers and (mostly) collectors bring fruit for sale/auction. Fruit also comes from other areas (e.g. peaches from Swat, mangoes from Multan, melons from ?. Fruit are sold by auction and we had the opportunity to inspect facilities and view auctions – Impressions:

• Soundly constructed and laid out facilities – but general upkeep and maintenance and hygiene were low. Similar to markets visited by Greg Johnson and Les Baxter in Multan in March 2006

• Commission agents purchase stall licences? • Mangoes from Multan ‘belly packed’ in wooden crates • Some peaches and melons packed in cardboard cartons • Sargodha market would receive mainly ‘second grade’ fruit but peaches, melons and

grapes seemed to be first quality.

Roshan Enterprises, 9-Chak Lokri, Kot Momin Road, Bhalwal

Roshan Enterprises is a leading exporter, a family business with 12 sons and 2 daughters, - the ASLP mango group had visited the Roshan Enterprises packhouse in Karachi during April 2006.

Packhouse had a modern packing line used only for Kinnow in season.

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Institutional Visits

Public sector agricultural R & D is undertaken by national research agencies under MINFAL and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Universities under the Ministry of Education and provincial agriculture and agricultural extension agencies. Some international agricultural research centres also have nodes or activities within Pakistan. We visited one international centre - CABI.

National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC, Islamabad) (MINFAL)

A roundtable hosted by Dr Mohammad Afzal, DG PARC (afz-parc@isb.paknet.com.pk . Attendees included Dr Shalid Hameed, Plant Virology, Iftikhar Ahmed, Director, Hort research Institute (olives, mango citrus), citrus hybridisation, orchard flor management, rootsrocks, Qurban Hussain, Senior Engineer (water resources), WRRI, Tariq Hassan, SSO (social scientist), Dr M. Afzul Akhtar, PSO (bacteriologist, immunology, detection o HLP, staining test), Muhammad Yasin, PSO, WRRI, NARC (irrigation water management), Khurshid Buruly, Pl Path, PI, ALP citrus project (crop diseases institute, ALP citrus link program, US activity, citrus nematode, virus diseases, link to rootstock work, Banaras H Niazi, PSO, PL, LRRP, NARC, (land resources research program, soil fertility, microbial and chemical, sol physics), Dr Hafeezur Rahman SSO, Fruit crops program NARC, rootstocks, orchard floor management, citrus decline, HRI, Ejaz Rafique, LRRP, NARC, M Hashim Lagheri, Senior Director, PARC (horticulturist, mango, banana, date, responsible for ASLP), Dr Ghulam Jilani, CSO, IPMP, IPEP, NARC (entomologist, disinfestation, IPM cotton, mango farmer field schools attended Mango workshop, Multan), Dr M. Sharif, CSO, SSD, PARC (citrus decline epidemiology), Dr Iftikhar Ahmad, Member PSO, PARC, Dr Azum Mumin, SSO, CDRP, IPEP) . NARC research:

Investigation of citrus decline in Punjab –

• nematodes a big problem? Sweet lime is resistant to nematodes • Root stocks used : Sour lemon in NWFP and rough lemon in Punjab • No certified nurseries

CABI – focus on insects, no pathogen IDs in Pakistan

Hosted by Kahlid Masud, project manager on farmer Field schools which works with national and provincial agencies. 1000 FFS – 25,000 farmers (out of 5 million) >> direct contact through field facilitators. 13 FFS in Punjab for citrus (F & V project)

Fruit fly: Bactrocera and Dacus spp. . Infestations 0.5-1.0% IPM has reduced infestation to 0.3% on 450 acres in Multan (mango). Snails also a problem

Previously co-operated with Swiss Development Co-operation (SDC) and Interco-operation (implementing agency of SDC) on citrus in Punjab and NWFP on citrus production in a project in NWFP (now completed) aimed to improve the access of small holders and tenants to market oriented horticultural through mainstreaming of participatory extension methodology and to assure the availability of high quality inputs (vegetable seed and fruit tree nursery plants). Now a partner in the Fruit and vegetable Development Project Punjab Umbrella PC-1 (2005-06 to 2008-08)

Name of the

Project Partner

Organization Period Location Goal Major Sphere

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Project for

Horticulture

Promotion (PHP)

Agriculture

Research System

and Agriculture

Extension

Department NWFP,

Federal

Seed Certification

&

Registration

Department

CABI Bioscience,

Pakistan

1988-

2003?

NWFP

Promote the

profitability and

sustainability of the

horticulture sector,

with special

emphases on

small producers and

related

entrepreneurs,

women and the

population in

marginal areas

with a potential to

grow fruit and / or

vegetables.

Seed & Trees

Development,

Integrated Crop

Management,

Integrated

Marketing

Services,

Discretionary

funding for small

projects

TOF (training of facilitators) training the ag officials for F & V project of Punjab 18 FFS in citrus area (++ 25 farmers /FFS).

Baseline realities:

• Soil high pH • Ground water brackish • Low OM • High use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides • HLB (not big issue in Punjab?) • Gummosis Phytophthora – susceptible rootstock • Citrus canker assoc with leaf minor • Already producing surplus of Kinnow

What are incentives for farmer to be involved in FFS?

What is scope to change major farm practice?

• Citrus growers must be specialists • Must stop intercropping • Engage with harvest contractors – involve at them at key points

Incentives to farmers to participate in FFS: transport charges Rs 35 (+ entertainment)

Giveaways include gypsum, micronutrients budget Rs50/farmer/session)

Meet every 2 weeks, too early to assess adoption impact in citrus. Only started 4/2006 need to follow at least 1 full crop cycle

Competition with chemical companies and their incentives. 20% of training facilitators former pesticide sellers (where they had great pressure to sell).

CABI involved in Malakand Rural Development project – losses reduced by half from 30-40%.

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Evolution of extension system. 1947-1961 Research, extension and education under one umbrella. Dept Ag Extension established in 1961.

In 1974 tried ‘training and Visit System (T & V) funding in Punjab and Sindh by World Bank.

95% of extension in public sector. Most in Provinces under Provincial Government. Major source of information is human to human and face to face. Low salaries, low access to resources and training and incentives for extension personnel. Literacy level is 45% for country and lower for rural areas.

CABI involved in manual development.

Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock. MINFAL. (meet with Secretary and Additional Secretary, M Saleen Khan Jhagra (from Peshawar) and other senior staff.

MINFAL Secretary is from Punjab Sargodha (Minister is from mango area Multan).

Meeting with Secretary and senior MINFAL/PARC staff illuminated some of the points made in other visits. Also discussed signing processes.

University of Faisalabad

Prof Iftikhar Amad Khan, head of Plant Pathology (focal areas: Plant Pathology: Disease detection, biology/epidemiology/IDM, molecular plant pathology.

Mushroom biotechnology, biocontrol of pathogens, physiology and biochemistry of plant disease; Entomology: IPM for crop and Fruit and vegetables, insect biodiversity and biosystematics, agro-ecology, stored grain pest management).

Useful talks with different sections of University. This is key training Institution in Agriculture in Pakistan/Punjab.

Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology

Prof Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Director. One of 4 institutes of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and under Ministry of Science and Technology

Prof Iqrar has had a long involvement in citrus R & D and has spent some years on secondment at a University in Oman. He was convenor of an international conference on citrus held in Pakistan in 1992. He provided copies of the proceedings. It is noteworthy that many of the problems raised in 1992 are the problems raised during our visit. The challenge will be to identify what interventions under ASLP have a chance of achieving impact.

NIAB have a low seed Kinnow and were building screenhouses. Punjab not suitable for Washington Navel. Kinnow has heat tolerance gene from cv King.

NIAB views on priorities:

Short term to impact:

Germplasm introduction and seedless varieties

Postharvest management – it is not a technology gap it is a management and implementation gap

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Longer term to impact:

Nutrition management

Control of greening

Federal Certification and Registration Agency

(this institution not visited but information included because of relevance to the nursery certification scheme). Role in nursery certification agreed in 1998 but no backup for rules. Operates under the Seed Act 1976. The Seed Act provides mechanisms for controlling and regulating the quality of seeds of various crop varieties. Its salient features include:-

• A National Seed Council with well defined functions including seed policy, regulations, import, seed movement, seed standards and investment issues.

• Federal Seed Certification and Registration agency along with seed registration, certification and regulatory function for quality control.

• Provincial seed councils functioning under the delegated powers of federal government i.e. advise on seed standards, recommend changes in seed laws, development of seed production farms etc.

Legislation under the Seed Act, 1976 includes:

• Seed (Truth-in-Labelling) Rules, 1991. • Seed (Registration) Rules, 1987. • Pakistan Fruit Certification Rules, 1988.

Provincial laws such as the The Punjab Seeds And Fruit Plants Ordinance, 1965 are also relevant. It states:

Rights and obligations of a registered grower.— (1) A registered grower shall, within the period specified by the competent authority, raise such seeds, fruit plants and nursery thereof as may be specified in his registration certificate, and, where necessary, shall maintain a progeny garden therefor.

(2) A registered grower shall, if so required by the competent authority, import seeds or fruit plants of such specifications as may be laid down by the competent authority.

(3) In raising the seeds, fruit plants and nursery, the registered grower shall follow such instructions and directions as may be given to him by the competent authority, and, in particular, shall observe such precautions as the competent authority may require him to take.

(4) A registered grower may, by application in the prescribed manner, request the competent authority to inspect the crop of seeds, progeny garden, fruit plants and nursery raised by him, and to suggest such measures as the competent authority may consider necessary for the improvement thereof.

Certification.— (1) On the application made in the prescribed manner by a registered grower, the competent authority shall inspect his crop of seeds, godowns of seeds, progeny garden, fruit plants and the nursery.

(2) If the competent authority is satisfied that the seeds, fruit plants and nursery raised by the registered grower have attained the standard notified under section 3, the competent authority shall certify such seeds, fruit plants and nursery as seeds, fruit plants and nursery, as the case may be, of high quality.

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Sale and distribution of certified seeds, fruit plants and nursery plants.— (1) The certified seeds produced by a registered grower shall be disposed of in such manner as may be prescribed…..

(3) For the purposes of sale of certified fruit plants and products of certified nurseries outside the local area specified under sub-section (3) of section 1, the competent authority may require a registered grower to sell fruit plants and products of nursery to such persons and at such reasonable rates as may be specified by the competent authority, and the registered grower shall comply accordingly.

Issues that need to be addressed in Pakistan in relation to seed and nursery stock certification are set out in “Needs and new challenges for Pakistan Seed industry beyond-2000 including status of Plant Variety Rights legislation.

Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI).

Courtesy call and round-table discussion with senior personnel of AARI on problems and priorities in citrus. Priorities indicated by AARI:

• Citrus decline is main problem (define cause, develop remedy) • Fruit fly management • Improvement of farmer extension • Packaging of information for farmers (such as plant depth for nursery stock) • Harvest/postharvest issues – loss reduction • Seedless cultivars.

AARI’s 100 years of contributions. (Dateline Faisalabad by Shamsul Islam Naz http://www.dawn.com/2006/04/24/fea.htm

• The Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI) remains the premier and prestigious seat in the country with its mandate to develop technology for food security, generation of exportable surplus, value addition and conservation of natural resources.

• Established in 1906, the AARI, after its bifurcation of the research and education in 1962, kept pace to meet food, feed, fibre and fuel needs of the burgeoning human population which is piling pressure on country’s natural resource base which is not only shrinking but also degrading due to the poor planning and bad management. There is no denying the fact that University of Agriculture graduates have contributed significantly to the success of the AARI.

• Despite the availability of research information, the problem of low productivity, resource degradation and non-sustainability in agriculture system remains a serious threat to human survival. Potential of the agriculture sector to eliminate these perils of poverty and strengthening of country’s economy has not been fully realised.

Orange Research Institute, Sargodha.

The Institute is one of the key research establishments of the Punjab Provincial Dept Agriculture and comes under AARI. Mr. Niaz Ahmad Chaudhary, Director, was recovering from a heart ailment but still came in to meet with us (and also attended the Sargodha workshop). A new building for the Institute was under construction at the tie of our visit. Functions of the Institute:

(i) To develop seedless cultivars. ORS has developed a seedless Kinnow and has 3 years data (max seed # 6).

85

(ii) Identify other suitable cultivars (none yet found that are better than Kinnow in the growing environment. Cargill (assoc with Processing facility) did provide other cvs for testing to extend season (46 cvs of orange and grapefruit etc – list to be provided).

Mini-workshop Sargodha

The purpose of the workshop was to provide a wider forum for presentation to growers of Australian approaches to citrus R & D, to consider local approaches to R & D and to answer questions/discuss priorities with growers and local experts. It was attended by about 50- local experts, along with selected growers. The mini-workshop program is attached in Appendix 1.

The venue for the workshop was the upper level of Taste Restaurant in Bhawal. Formal remarks at opening were by Mr Haroon Ihsan Piracha (E haroon_piracha@hotmail.com), Member of the National Assembly (and nephew of the District Nazim, Inam ul Haq Piracha). Despite some deficiencies in preparation of venue by the Restaurant owners and some technical problems (PowerPoint operation, power failure), the workshop proceeded fairly well. The growers seemed most interested in the Australian presentations and opportunities to and questions/raise priorities.

Industry Workshop Islamabad 24-25 July, 2006 (and Reception hosted by High Commissioner)

This workshop on Citrus research, development and extension in Pakistan and Australia provided a forum in which to

• Formally present aspects of the Australian and Pakistan industry approaches to R, D & E to key industry stakeholders drawn from a wide spectrum of the industry, farmers, collectors, commission agents, exporters, processors, input suppliers, research extension and university personnel and government agencies

• Discuss and workshop key issues, possible R & D solutions and capacity building requirements and

• Present a summary of the scoping study conclusions to the Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL), the Australian High Commissioner and other senior government personnel.

The presentations were in general excellent – the program ran like clockwork and discussion and questions were generally good. Workshop sessions went well and each group produced a summary presentation on priorities (Appendix 6). These were drawn on by the ACIAR Horticulture Program Manager to present the scoping visit conclusions, and recommendations and topic for research under ASLP.

Given the high level on engagement by national and provincial agencies in citrus R, D & E and quite high levels of support under various projects the challenge will be to engage in a complementary way. It seemed however that the ‘mega projects’ were providing core support for agencies and personnel and that ASLP could work in the way that ACIAR usually does – providing support for the front-line R, D & E, exchanging knowledge, technology and know-how from Australia and facilitating person-to-person engagement with agency personnel.

The participation by the Minister MINFAL in the closing ceremony was an unanticipated bonus. Unfortunately the High Commissioner did not arrive until midway through Les Baxter’s

86

presentation on priorities (and just before Secretary MINFAL). The High Commissioner also hosted a reception for the Australian team and key government personnel and industry stakeholders at which there were opportunities to informally discuss the scoping visit findings with the Minister MINFAL, the Minister for State for IT and Telecom, the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner, the Secretary of the Department of Industry and the Chairman of Pakistan Horticultural Development Export Board (PHDEB).

Appendix 5 B Information on externally funded projects relevant to the Citrus Initiative.

Government of Pakistan Funding for productivity enhancement and irrigation system improvement . (Source PHDEB website August 4 2006)

• Two ‘mega projects’ - special programme for food security and productivity enhancement of small farmers (CMP costing Rs 7.821 billion) and water conservation and productivity enhancement through high efficiency irrigation system (Rs 15 billion have been incorporated in the Government of Pakistan’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2006-07.

• The Crop Maximisation Project (CMP) would cover 13,000 villages by 2015. Initial phase would encompass 1000 villages to reduce over 50 percent yield gap between progressive growers and small farmers, and it would also lead to higher production levels in the sector.

• Water conservation and productivity enhancement project would benefit the horticulture sector, as it needs more water to increase productivity. Of the total financing of the project, the provinces would bear 20 percent of the total cost of the project while the federal government will bear 60 percent of the total cost and the remaining 20 percent will be contributed by the beneficiaries (farmers).

• Drip and sprinkler irrigation systems would result in approximately 40-50 percent water saving, 30-100 percent agricultural productivity increases, 25-40 percent saving in fertilisers and 40-45 percent increase in cropping intensity.

Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project.

This Asian Development Bank assisted project is being implemented by MINFAL and covers all areas of Pakistan including the four provinces, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Federal Administered Northern Area (FANA) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir(AJK). It will be jointly executed by MINFAL, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Provincial Agri and Marketing Depts and FATA, FANA and AJK. Budget for 2005-2010 is Rs. 4066 million (AU$ 88 million including US$ 31 million soft loan), and activities include provision of support services for agri-business development in the private sector and agri-business finance development. An agri-business support fund has been established for capacity building of existing agro-enterprises and to pursue demand driven research to improve quality production as well as processing. The project will also minimize post harvest losses which are estimated at US $22 million per year

Mr Tajamal Hussain Nisar (E thisnar@gmail.com) is provincial co-ordinator (Punjab) of this project. Mr Tajamal was formerly with PHDEB and he played a key role in organising the ASLP mango supply chain scoping visit in March-April 2006. The project is funded by a soft loan from the Asian Development Bank and will be managed by consultants M/s ANZDEC Limited New Zealand (see Box).

According to the ADB loan proposal (4/2005), the project interventions should focus on increased productivity, product quality, and value added by removing constraints facing

87

agribusiness that occur throughout the product value chain from production and input supply, to processing and exports. Constraints will be addressed throughout the value chain to remove market and institutional failures and rigidities that impede the development of the agribusiness sector, and promote demand- driven development with maximum participation of the private sector. This will be achieved by (i) creating an agribusiness support fund (ASF) to provide farmers, farmer groups, and entrepreneurs with demand-driven technical and managerial services on a matching grant basis to improve their productivity, competitiveness, and creditworthiness to access financing for their enterprises; (ii) increasing access to agribusiness finance available from financial institutions to agro-enterprises; (iii) revising and updating the agribusiness regulatory framework; (iv) strengthening and upgrading testing and certification facilities for seeds, nurseries, and crops; (v) streamlining the collection and dissemination of market information; (vi) strengthening agribusiness technical training capacity and the capability of related training institutions; (vii) formulating a national agribusiness policy and provincial horticulture policies; and (viii) building awareness of the need to comply with international agricultural product standards and practices as an essential requirement to maintain and expand export markets for agricultural products. The Project should foster a flexible private sector service delivery mechanism for the agribusiness sector driven by market demand. The primary focus will be on horticulture and hortibusiness, though interventions to improve the livestock and dairy institutional framework, and support selected enterprises will be provided (see box below).

Observer 15 April 2006 Islamabad—Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and M/s ANZDEC Limited of New Zealand on Friday (April 14 2006) signed a consultancy contract for the Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project.

• Sultan Ahmad, Joint Secretary MINFAL and Robert Hanmer, Project Management Leader, ANZDEC signed the contract papers on behalf of their respective sides. Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Sikandar Hayat Bosan and Secretary MINFAL, Ismail Qureshi were present on the occasion.

• About 12,500 farmers will benefit from grant funding through the Agribusiness Support Fund over the project life of five years. A number of institutions will develop dedicated agribusiness finance functions, which will benefit 10,000 agro enterprises by improving access to finance, resulting in 100,000 person years of direct employment and 700,000 person years of indirect employment.

• Under the capacity building activity 25,000 farmers will receive on-farm technical training while over 5,000 entrepreneurs will receive technical and managerial training.

• M/S ANZDEC will provide technical and professional expertise in institutional restructuring, compliance with international quality standards, development of agribusiness policy, competitive and comparative advantage studies.

• ANZDEC will also assist in developing agribusiness training for framers and entrepreneurs.

• The overall focus of the project is on the entire agriculture business with an aim to strengthen and support demand driven private sector service delivery mechanisms throughout the agribusiness value chain. The specific focus of the project is on Horticulture and Hortibusiness and also on the Livestock and Dairy business.

• The project is designed to redress constraints that hamper the growth of agribusiness sector. A variety of project interventions have been built in the project to remove constraints and thereby increase productivity, improve products quality and add value to agribusiness activities.—APP

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Pakistan Initiative for Strategic Development and Competitiveness. (PISDAC)

Warren Weinstein and associates made contact with the citrus team at the Islamabad Workshop. Subsequently, Les Baxter met with them and has had additional email dialogue.

(quoted from website link) The 'Pakistan Initiative for Strategic Development and Competitiveness- (PISDAC) is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded activity managed by J.E. Austin Associates Inc. and is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Pakistani Small and Medium sized enterprises. The sectors currently covered under the project are Gems & Jewellery, Dairy, Marble & Granite, Furniture and Horticulture/Food Processing.

PISDAC partners with the Pakistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA), the Technology Up-Gradation and Skills Development Company (TUSDEC), the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and various other government agencies and ministries as well as provincial and local government authorities. PISDAC III began in February 2006 and has continued to provide technical assistance to the dairy, gems and jewellery, and marble and granite SWOGs to define and plan their initiatives. PISDAC III includes three additional SWOGs in horticulture, surgical tools, and furniture.

Started in May 2004, the project worked with several prominent Pakistani industries and helped form three Strategic Working Groups (commonly referred to as SWOGs), which develop sector-specific strategies. SWOGs include industry leaders, government officials, academia, and relevant NGOs that are working together to develop strategies and implement policy and regulatory changes through public-private dialogue.

These strategies are aimed at upgrading production, improving marketing and understanding and meeting consumer demand. The Strategic Working Groups identify priority investments in human resources, infrastructure, technology, and, management required to produce higher-quality products.

SWOG Groups for Horticulture include

1. Producers and Processors

2. Training

3. Logistics and cold storage

4. R & D and Policy

5. Marketing

6. Product Development and

7. Quality, Certification and Standards.

The Training Core Group has discussed model nurseries and introducing reliable rootstocks. And ICM training.

The Quality Certification and Standards group has discussed compilation of a certification and quality standard manual and establishing a voluntary quality label for Pakistan fruit

The Fruit Exporters Group has discussed EURGAP standards and benchmarking.

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The Logistics and Cold Storage Group has discussed lack of standardisation of transport vehicles, lack of cold storage facilities, poor knowledge by exporters and packers of packaging materials.

The Horticulture Marketing Group has discussed marketing information systems, quality standards and certification, branding, linkages and made several recommendations.

The Horticulture Group has discussed potential clients, target markets and competitors, the role of supermarkets and support funds, commodity focus and devised a plan of action.

Fruit and Vegetable Development Project Umbrella PC-1. 2005.

This is a 4 year project (to 2009) sponsored by the Government of Punjab and executed by Punjab Dept of Agriculture with a budget of Rs 643710 million (AU$14 million). The main objective is to increase fruit vegetable production in the Punjab. Elements include:

Organizing farming community under the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) system.

Educating farmers in mango, citrus and vegetable production technology.

Minimizing the use of pesticides to the tune of 20-25% on fruits & vegetables through a comprehensive and well organized training programme in IPM techniques.

To enhance mango, citrus and vegetable production qualitatively and quantitatively for foreign exchange earnings.

Popularisation of off-season vegetable production through low cost tunnels.

Reduction in environmental pollution and health hazards.

It focuses on mango, citrus and vegetables to improve germplasm quality and certification, production for export, fruit and vegetable marketing and value adding, business practice, supply chain link and use of the farmer field school approach. It involved institutes within AARI, the Dept Agriculture Extension, CABI Pakistan and the Planning and Evaluation Unit. CABI are responsible for assisting agricultural extension component for training of farmers through Master trainers and Trained facilitators. (Project document on file at ACIAR).

Rural Enterprise Modernisation Project

Pakistan is also promoting rural enterprise development - This 3 year (2006-2008) technical assistance (TA) loan costing US$ 100.00 million, with 77% from ADB and 23% from GoP will (i) fill major gaps in information and analysis on rural nonfarm medium and small enterprises (MSEs), and consolidate this information in a knowledge management system; (ii) identify and initiate carefully targeted pilot interventions to support rural MSE development; and (iii) assess institutional support processes and the feasibility of establishing an autonomous, not-for-profit entity to facilitate rural MSE development. The TA loan has three components: (i) market development preparation (MDP), (ii) sector analysis and pilot interventions, and (iii) preparatory analysis for the design of a Rural Enterprise Modernization Company (REMC). Other activities being funded by donors (from Rural Enterprise Modernisation Project document are listed in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 External Assistance to Support Enterprise Development

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Project Title Funding Agency External Assistance ($ million)

Agribusiness Development Project

Small and Medium Trade Enhancement Project

Trade Export Promotion and Industry

Small and Medium Enterprise Sector Development Program

Small and Medium Enterprise Sector Development Program

(Project Loan)

Microfinance Sector Development Project

Microfinance Sector Development Program

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Project – Phase 1

Second Poverty Alleviation Fund Project

Banking Sector Technical Assistance Project

State Bank Partnership for Microfinance

Financial Sector Strengthening Program

EU Capacity Building for Trade-Related Activities

Trade Initiatives from a Human Development Perspective

Proposal to Support Craft-Based Enterprises

Competitive Support Fund

Bilateral Assistancea

ADB

ADB

ADB

ADB

ADB

ADB

ADB

IBRD/IDA

IBRD/IDA

IBRD/IDA

IBRD/IDA

SDC

SDC

UNDP

UNIDO

USAID

31.0

150.0

7.5

152.0

18.0

80.0

70.0

90.0

238.0

20.0

26.5

0.7

2.4

7.3

2.0

To be approved

10.0

ADB = Asian Development Bank, EU = European Union, IBRD = International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IDA = International Development Association, SDC = Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNDP = United Nations Development Programme, UNIDO = United Nations Industrial Development Organization, USAID = United States Agency for International Development.

(a) Enterprise development initiatives of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program, National Rural Support Programme, Punjab Rural Support Programme, and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been financed by several bilateral agencies including the Australian Agency for International

91

Development, Canadian International Development Agency, and others. These initiatives are part of overall programmatic support extended over many years, starting in 1983.

Sources: Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Finance; United Nations Development Programme, Islamabad; assistance agencies and their Web sites.

US funded Agriculture Linkages Program (ALP17)

We were briefed on some of the research covered under the Rs100 million research competitive grant program. Of particular relevance were those projects /activities that could complement or synergies the activities proposed under ASLP. Therefore some additional information on the ALP has been accessed from the ALP and PARC websites:

A list of first and second round projects relevant to horticulture are attached together with progress reports for 2004-2005. A 2001 ALP workshop identified the following as priorities for the program: Of the commodities/problems listed those that are being funded under ALP with relevance to the ASLP are highlighted. Those listed as priority areas and not currently being funded under ALP are underlined:

HORTICULTURE

Priority Fruits

- Citrus - Mango - Banana - Apple - Peach - Apricot - Melon Priority Research Areas

- Germplasm introduction/evaluation and varietal development for quality and productivity, extension in availability periods.

- Biotechnology improvements for dwarfing in mango, seedlessness in Kinnow, post harvest/ shelf life extension, etc.

- Nursery production and management, use of root and growth promotion treatments. - Mother plant indexing, bud wood certification, quality standards for nursery plants and

certification program - Orchard management practices – particularly macro and micro-nutrients, leaf analysis,

irrigation techniques. - Post harvest handling and processing techniques. - Research on marketing system for local and export markets. - Research on specific problems like mango, malformation, banana, bunchy top virus,

citrus and mango decline, fruit flies, gummosis, fruit cracking in pomegranate, etc.

17 In 2001, the United States Government donated wheat valued at US $ 23.2 million as grant to the Government of Pakistan. The convents of the agreement provided that the local currency generated through the sale proceeds of wheat will be used to establish “Agricultural Linkages Program” for promoting research cooperation between Pakistan and the USA in the areas of agricultural sciences.

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SOCIAL SCIENCES

High Priority

• Economic efficiency and sustainability of selected farming systems;

• WTO trade liberalization move: Implications for Pakistan’s agriculture with special reference to sustainable development, food security, poverty alleviation and environmental concerns;

• Economics of farm input use;

• Economics and marketing of growing various fruits and vegetables; and

• Development of regional models for agricultural policy analysis/decisions.

Medium Priority

• Analysis of technology transfer methods for sustained growth in agriculture;

• Farmers’ capacity building through information technology;

• Impact and evaluation studies of different interventions/ projects; and

• Research on assessment and determinants of agricultural marketing costs, marketing margins, improvements, development and integration of agriculture markets.