DATES are a special crop of Turbat. Makran division is the second largest date producer in Pakistan after Sukkur. Kech district shares 59 per cent of date crop.

It is unfortunate that dates of Turbat are being ignored. Dates are main source of income for many farmers. Unregulated market mechanisms compel the traders to sell dates at a low price. This means there is hardly any possibility of earning a profit.

There is no action by the government for improving the quality of dates. Each year a large number of dates that could be used to generate revenue are wasted because of negligence by the government.

I urge authorities concerned to ensure that the date farmers get all trading facilities to set up date exporting factories in the city.

Banadi Ali
Turbat

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019