Citrus board in limbo as centre, provinces

The government is likely to delay setting up its planned advisory Citrus Development Board (CDB)as the project has been beset by regulatory hurdles and complicated by financial woes, officials said.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had constituted a citrus development committee to formulate modalities of the proposed board.However, a consensus emerged at the committee meeting, headed by the Federal National Food Security and Research Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan that the board should also have financial powers, “as only an advisory role would make it ineffective.”It was also decided that the board would need financing on a sustainable basis.However, a major reason for the hold-up of the project is a dispute between the federal and provincial governments on shouldering responsibility of funds to the board on a sustainable basis.The federal government asked the provinces, especially Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take the financial responsibility of the citrus board, as citrus production was negligible in the other two provinces.“The provinces, however, refused to provide the required funds and asked the federal government to channelize the tax amount paid to the export development fund (EDF) to the citrus board,” an official who attended the meeting told The News.“But the minister committed one time funding for the project.”Pakistan produced 2.384 million tons of citrus during the last fiscal year and the country exported less than 16 percent produce.Punjab produced 2.352 million tons, while KhyberPakhtunkhwa’s production reached to 31,600 tons in 2014/15 fiscal year. Total area under citrus cultivation in KP is 9,880 acres; production stands at 31,600 tons with 3.2 tons/acre yield.Measures are underway to increase productivity and better quality.“Pakistan enjoys a huge potential in citrus and the government is making all out efforts to enhance itsproductivity and quality,” Bosan said.He said the next meeting of the committee, responsible of setting up the board, will be held after two weeks. “It is expected that the committee would suggest the composition and mandate of citrus development board in the upcoming meeting,” Bosan said.The minister stressed that issues pertaining to citrus nursery, best agriculture practices, plant nutrition, pruning, intercropping, mechanisation, drainage, pest control and poor post harvest handling need to be addressed at the earliest.The government also constituted a committee to inspect the citrus orchards. Top three growers as per international standards would be awarded cash prizes.News SourceNews Collated byPAKISSAN.comCourtesy The News