IN spite of immense potentials for horticulture, the area under fruits in the NWFP has not been increased because of lack of incentives and limited technological advancement made so far in this field.

The province has an ideal environment for growing fruits like apple, citrus, guava, apricot, peach, plum, loquat, persimmon, melon etc., which apart from meeting domestic demands, offer great potential for export.

The ecological zoning of the province indicates that every zone has different environment, where different varieties of fruits can be grown. The northern and hilly areas of Malakand region are suitable for high quality apple, peaches, walnut, citrus etc. The plain areas comprising Peshawar valley are ideal for plum, almond, loquat, while the Dera Ismail Khan region is suitable for dates and melons. But the area under fruit is shrinking gradually.

Agriculture Statistics of Pakistan shows that area under fruit in NWFP has shrunk from 47,059 hectares in 1999-2000 to 46,803 hectares in 2005-06, a decline of 256 hectares.

Fruit farmers claim that this has happened mainly because of the government policies revolving around field crops like wheat, cotton etc, with very little attention towards horticulture.

They say that public sector institutions responsible for promotion of horticulture are unable to develop new cost-effective varieties of fruits. The problem is further compounded by the lack of modern technology.

A horticulture expert Ikramullah Khan says old varieties of fruits need to be replaced by internationally accepted ones. The need for internationally certified varieties has increased following the introduction of World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime, where every nation has to secure quality certification.

He suggests that a committee of experts be formed to list new varieties of tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate fruit crops and nuts for different ecological zones as well as identify modern nurseries around the globe. Likewise, horticulturists with knowledge of latest technology and field experience be made available to the farming community at district level.

Since land is limited and population is growing, availability of land for agriculture/horticulture is gradually being reduced. Now, it is time to turn to high-density horticultural farming with drip irrigation system. This can save over 50 per cent of available water and enhance the income manifold, he explains.

Model farms should also be established at various places throughout the province in different ecological zones and the government departments should train the farmers with modern technologies.. He also advocates for affordable credit to farmers at the right time and declaring horticulture as “special crop” at least for the next two decades.

Special credit lines should be extended by all banks at exactly half the current interest rate for building cold chain, grading and packing facilities for fruits, and portable equipment for taking out field heat at the farm level. Equipment needed in horticultural development should also be exempted from import duty.

Despite witnessing an overall decrease of 256 hectares, the performance of various fruits has improved.. The total apple production in NWFP was up from 1,01,686 tons in 1999-2000 to 1,26,666 tons in 2005-06. Guava production increased from 30,780 tons to 43,164 tons during this period. Similarly, production of peach increased from 14,489 tons to 51, 591 tons.

Officials and farmers say this happened mainly because of growers facilitation programme launched by the government and international donor agencies particularly in the Malakand region.

The areas which lacked government help had poor crop output. For example, citrus production dropped from 39,693 tons in 1999-2000 to 37647 tons in 2005-06, plum from 39,194 tons to 33,108 tons and apricot from 19,949 tons to 18,311 tons.

Researchers in different public sector organisations have different story to tell, as they advocate a multi-sectoral strategy for promotion of horticulture in NWFP. They say research organisations have produced a number of new varieties and are providing constant guidance to the farming community.

But lack of latest equipment, outdated farm management and poor marketing facilities are the factors which keep the farmers away from investing time and money in the horticulture sector.

Ghulam Nabi, a research officer at the Agriculture Research Institute Tarnab, explains that the research bodies in Frontier Province particularly the Tarnab farm have developed hundreds of new varieties of various fruits.

”It was because of the efforts of researchers and other allied bodies of public sector which had increased the area under fruit from 26,400 hectares in 1989-1990 to 46,800 hectares in 2005-06, and enhanced fruit production from 2,93,500 tons to 5,19,100 tons during the same period,” he says.

However, fruit production improved only in Malakand region where special attention was paid towards apple, peach and apricot production, he said.

The Peshawar valley is ideal for sub-tropical fruits, but farmers here are more interested in field crops, which comparatively involve less labour and are cost effective as compared to fruits.

He says that government has model farm houses at different places, where farmers are trained to produce the developed varieties, but it has been observed that the farmers do not want to invest in new varieties and prefer investment in old ones.

Plantation of new varieties, he explains, needs at least five to six years to mature and most of the farmers cannot afford such a long time to wait and hence their option is for old varieties.

Poor orchard management is also one of the major issues, which contributes substantially to decrease in areas under fruit in NWFP, and the farmers find guidelines expensive because it involves measures to prevent fruit tress from various diseases, he said.

Things can improve if the government pays special attention to horticulture by providing subsidies and facilities for better marketing of their yield.