Today (14th May, 2026) Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC) organized a webinar on “Export-Oriented Value Addition of Potato with Emphasis on Starch-Based Opportunities and Applications” to highlight emerging opportunities in potato processing, industrial starch production, and export diversification amid the rapidly changing regional trade environment. The webinar focused on the urgent need to transform Pakistan’s potato sector from a fresh commodity-based export model toward high-value industrial processing and export-oriented value addition.
Pakistan’s potato processing industry is currently operating significantly below its installed and potential capacity. Industry estimates indicate that Pakistan possesses the installed capacity to process nearly 5% of total potato production into value-added products including potato chips, frozen French fries, flakes, and starch. However, actual commercial utilization remains around only 1%, leaving approximately 4% additional processing capacity underutilized. This gap reflects a major opportunity for industrial expansion, export diversification, and investment in potato value addition.
The webinar highlighted that Pakistan remains heavily dependent on fresh and chilled potato exports despite having strong raw material availability and favorable agro-climatic conditions for industrial potato production. Limited processing infrastructure, weak cold chain systems, insufficient contract farming arrangements, and lack of industrial-grade potato varieties continue to restrict the sector’s growth. Most local potato varieties contain only 10–12% starch, whereas Chinese and European industrial varieties contain 20–24% starch, making them commercially more suitable for starch extraction and processed potato industries.
Dr. Adnan delivered a detailed technical presentation on starch-based opportunities and industrial applications of potatoes. He highlighted that Pakistan is the 4th largest potato producer in Asia, contributing approximately 5.2% to regional production and ranking among the world’s top ten potato-producing countries. Despite this production strength, Pakistan still imports a significant portion of its starch requirements due to limited domestic starch processing capacity.
The presentation highlighted that potato starch possesses extensive applications across food processing, textile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, paper industries, biodegradable packaging, and bioplastics sectors, making it a highly strategic industrial commodity globally. Participants were informed that Chinese buyers have approached PHDEC expressing interest in sourcing approximately 70,000–90,000 tons of potato starch annually from Pakistan, indicating a concrete export opportunity.
The webinar also discussed industrial potato varieties suitable for starch extraction. Two varieties, Lana and Multipliers, currently available in Pakistan through tissue culture technology, were identified as commercially viable due to starch content exceeding 25%, significantly higher than conventional table potato varieties. The role of tissue culture and rapid multiplication technologies was highlighted as an important mechanism for fast-track development of industrial potato production systems.
Follow-up actionable points agreed included accelerating introduction and multiplication of high-starch potato varieties through tissue culture technology, promoting investment in potato starch extraction plants and processing infrastructure, strengthening public-private collaboration for industrial potato cultivation, and developing integrated contract farming systems linking growers with processors and exporters. Participants also emphasized the importance of improving cold chain systems, warehousing, and reefer logistics to reduce post-harvest losses and stabilize supply chains.
