A GREAT diversity in soil and climatic conditions exists in the country, and this favours cultivation of a variety of fruits. The costal belts of Sindh and Balochistan are suitable for tropical fruits. The uplands in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Balochistan and Northern Areas are suitable for temperate fruits and the planes of Indus basin in Punjab and Sindh are suitable for sub-tropical fruits.

More than 30 varieties of fruits are produced in different climatic zones of the country, major among them being citrus, mango, date, apple and banana. While some other fruits like guava, apricot, peach, pear, plum, grape, pomegranate and almonds are also grown. Out of 6.64 million tones of fruit produced in 2004-05, only 3.28 per cent was exported as it did not meet the export standards.

If the fruits which are not suitable for export are brought to food processing industry, a lot of money can be earned through value addition.

Food industry is one of the largest industries of the country accounting for 27 per cent of the value-added production, and 16 per cent of the employment in the manufacturing sector. The worth of food industry output in the country is estimated at Rs46 billion.

The best quality fruits are exported as fresh fruits. Grading and packing of fresh fruits help maintain fruit quality, which increase their prices. The major operational activities in this process include sorting, washing, waxing, drying, grading and packing. The exporters, who do not have ‘in-house’ processing facilities, obtain fresh processed fruits from processing plants.

Although, fresh fruit processing plants provide an opportunity to target international customers and exporters directly, proper attention is not being given to this area. There is a need to boost the grading/packing industry for all major fruits. There are more than 90 citrus grading/packing plants in the country, which are all concentrated in Bhalwal, whereas in Toba Teksingh, the second largest citrus-producing district, there is only one citrus grading/packing plant. This situation is worst with all other fruit crops.

There are only two date processing plants in Khairpur, the date producing area, whereas there is not a single mango packing/grading plant in the whole of Rahim Yar Khan and Multan, the mango-producing areas. Moreover, incentives to encourage processing of fruits and their exports are lacking.

Another important aspect of fruit processing is to preserve the fruit in a stable form or juice that can be stored and supplied to local and distant markets throughout the year. Processing can also change fruits into new or more usable forms. Major products of the food processing industry include dehydrated products, fruit products including fruit juices/drinks, canned fruits and carbonated beverages, etc.

There are more than 25 processing plants for value-added products in the country. The existing fruit processing industry is concentrated around Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. They produce jams, jellies, squashes, pickles and canned fruits. The production of fruit-preserve is currently estimated at 15,000 tons out of which jams, jellies and marmalades are 2,000 tons; pickles and chutneys 10.000 tons and syrups and squashes 18 million bottles.

Most of the processing plants are of citrus, as this fruit is available in abundance. The second largest processing capacity in the industry is for mango. However, its capacity is under utilised and can be enhanced 2-3 times. Still there is a need for installing more food processing industries for value addition in the fruit producing areas.

The food processing sector in the country could not keep pace with the overall industrial developments. The major reasons are the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables, lack of adequate refrigeration and transportation facilities, shortage of packaging and storing facilities. But even then, in the post-WTO regime, fruit juice export has continuously been rising which shows that there is a lot of potential to export fruit juices to the USA, the European Union, South Korea and the UAE. Thus, the country needs to improve the status of fruit processing industry for value addition to increase its foreign exchange earnings.

The fruit industry has a great potential for exports of fresh or processed products. There is a need to focus this industry and to upgrade it by boosting both the fresh fruit packing, grading and processing for value addition and to approach markets for export of fresh fruit and value-added products.