ISLAMABAD: The solar drying technology, introduced by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), is helping dates’ farmers to reduce the ripening time of crop to 3-4 day from 7-8 day, besides enhancing profitability and quality.
Chief Scientist and Director General of Agricultural Engineering Division of PARC Dr Munir Ahmad said this at an “Inception Workshop on Post-Harvest Management and Value Addition of Fruits in Production Catchments in SAARC Countries – Pakistan Component” at Sukkur on Monday.
Dr Munir, in his presentation on “Solar Date Drying Technologies”, said prior to the workshop, a base line survey was conducted in Sindh for identification of different stakeholders involved in cultivation, processing and marketing of date and banana fruits, according to a PARC press release issued here.
He said dates were one of the most important cash fruit crops, cultivated mostly in Balochistan and Sindh.
Sindh, the second highest date producing province of the country, he said,” produces 350,000 tons of dates annually with each date palm carrying a weight of about 80-90 kg on average.”
Dr Munir said banana was also a major fruit crop of the country, 87 per cent of which grown in Sindh. The banana sector, he said, was facing serious problems from production to post harvest management and export marketing.
“Post harvest losses of banana range from 30-40 per cent of the total production and these losses could be avoided through better management of production system, including disease and pest management, care during production and post-harvest management with cool chain and appropriate marketing system,” he added.
Dr Munir said the PARC scientists were planning to produce value added products of banana, which would not only improve the profitability, but also increase employment opportunities in rural areas.
Speaking on the occasion, President Sindh Abadgar Board and Member PARC Board of Governors, Abdul Majeed Nizamani said that Pakistani dates had a huge national and international market demand.
He said that Pakistan was the 4th largest producer of dates with total annual production at around 650,000 tons in the form of over 300 varieties.
He appreciated the efforts of PARC scientists’ for introducing solar dates drying technology.
“Efforts are required to develop and disseminate appropriate dates dryers,” he said.
He said that banana, the other important fruit crop of the area, was also facing serious problems from production to post harvest management and marketing.
