Khairpur: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Sukkur organised a consultative session on Banana and Dates product of Khairpur to assess the actual potential and challenges faced by the stakeholders. The event was collaborated by Khairpur Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture Khairpur, Sindh Abadgar Foundation Khairpur, Date Palm Research Institute Khairpur, and Banana Research Institute Khairpur.
The organizers of the event explained audience that the objective of such sessions is to connect and unite the concerned stakeholders who may identify structural flaws in their products. The audience of growers, traders, processors, exporters and technical experts highlighted various issues available with these products at almost all stages. The man-made issues like lack of good agriculture practices, limited and traditional varieties, unskilled labor, less educated growers, lack of pre & post harvesting techniques, improper tools, non-feasible infrastructure, inadequate transport, shortage of cold storages, lack of mechanization, and the lack of value addition remained the focus of discussion and debate. The natural calamities like earlier and longer spells of monsoon rains compel growers to harvest their crop prematurely; which is another addition to above man-made issues.
In this session, an expert of SGS Pakistan gave a detailed presentation to the participants on ISO standards and other certificate requirements of different importers.
An ex-Director of Date Palm Research Institute (DPRI) Khairpur suggested a SWOT analysis of the above highlighted problems to convert our Weaknesses and Threats into our Strengths and Opportunities. He argued further that unity, sincerity, and a will to work can resolve these issues. He suggested the concerned stakeholders to form a delegation of growers and approach to the higher authorities of both Federal and Provincial governments with request to support them with the supply of imported elite varieties of Date palm seedlings. TDAP and Trade Missions abroad can also arrange an online training sessions/ e-learnings. The challenge of processing Date product as Dry-dates can also be mitigated by value addition through manufacturing of Date powder, paste and syrup.
The panelists also highlighted the potential of Banana and its bi-products. Banana is exported to Iran, Afghanistan and UAE. The bi-products like banana chips and powder possess huge potential which is yet to be tapped for export. Moreover, banana skin is also used by various cosmetic industries in manufacturing of cosmetic products.
The participants thanked TDAP for organizing such an informative consultative session at local level of Khairpur. They committed to make Khairpur Chamber of Commerce & Industry a joint platform of growers, traders, processors and exporters. At the end of the session, the participants formulated a joint committee which shall work very closely with TDAP Sukkur office to revamp the exports of Banana and Dates products.
