ISLAMABAD – Pakistan could save billions of dollars annually if it managesto reduce its current post-harvest loss by 75 percent, the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) stated in its latest report.
The report titled ‘Dysfunctional Horticulture Value Chains and the Need forModern Marketing Infrastructure: The Case of Pakistan’, published by ADBsSustainable Development and Climate Change Department, stated that areduction of around 75 percent of the current post-harvest loss would beequivalent to an annual saving of approximately $1.13 billion.
“Post harvest losses in fruits and vegetables due to mishandling of theperishable product, poor transportation, and inadequate storage facilitiesand market infrastructure account for about 30pc to 40pc of totalproduction,” stated the report.
“The annual value of post harvest losses of potato, tomato, peas,cauliflowers, carrots, turnip, radish, brinjal, squash, okra, onion,grapes, and mango in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh,valued at the respective 2016 provincial wholesale prices, is about $700million to $934 million,” it added.
Read Top Stories
The report further said that the negative impacts of the current valuechain can be assessed in terms of the low share of farmers in consumerprices. It said that the producers usually get 15pc to 20pc of the retailprice. Whereas, production of perishables like potato, onion and tomatosuffers from a major setback every 3–4 years.
