ISLAMABAD: The United States Department of Agriculture on Thursday concludes its agriculture and cold chain development project in Balochistan by funding construction of 78 cold storages, banana ripening units and drying tunnels.

The five-year project was funded under the Food for Peace Programme of USDA by selling 21,000 metric tonnes of US soybean oil and using the proceeds to fund capacity building initiatives and the construction of cold storage and other food preservation tools in Balochistan.

US Ambassador Richard G. Olson and Balochistan Additional Secretary of Agricu­lture and Cooper­atives Imran Khan commemorated the conclusion of the ‘Pakistan Agriculture and Cold Chain Development’ project at a ceremony here on Thursday.

Reflecting on Baloc­his­tan’s position as a top producer of many fruits, nuts, and vegetables in Pakistan, Ambassador Olson commented that “Balochistan is the province that adds variety to Pakistan’s diet. Our project helps to connect Balochistan with consumers in the rest of Pakistan.”

He noted that at the start of the project, US and Pakistani officials realised that finding a way to “help Balochistan’s perishable crops reach consumers throughout Pakistan in the best and safest condition possible would help to reduce losses, improve returns to farmers, and meet the demands of consumers.”

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2015

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