Kinnow: Pakistan may lose Russian market

Pakistan may lose one of its most profitable Kinnow markets, Russian market, and suffer heavily in case Russian government does not rescind its decision by December 1, banning import of fruits and vegetables from Pakistan. The ban was imposed by Russian government a few months back as the quality of fruits and vegetables did not meet the laid down sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) conditions.
According to fruit and vegetable exporters, Pakistan's department of plant protection should immediately lay down its quarantine policy in consultation with Russian authorities so that the quality of horticulture products could be improved.
The ban would impact on the export of around 50,000 ton Kinnow if the same is not lifted as the season has started and exporters are getting ready to ship the fruit to various markets.
They said that Russia is a good market for Pakistan's fruits and vegetables, particularly Kinnow but in order to increase the volumes, they need to reduce the trust deficit and establish banking channels between the two countries.
Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food and Security must take cognisance of this alarming situation and raise the issue at diplomatic level as the ban may cause colossal loss to country's economy at this crucial juncture, they said.
A bumper Kinnow crop is expected during 2013-2014 and according to preliminary estimates the production might touch 2.1 to 2.3 million ton.
This year Kinnow will be shipped to Indonesia at zero percent duty as Indonesian government has allowed Pakistani Kinnow to be shipped to Tanjung port, Jakarta. The activation of PTA followed the signing of a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on plant quarantine and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures between Pakistan and Indonesia wherein Indonesia officially acknowledged Pakistan as pest-free area for Kinnow.
Ministry of Commerce may initiate kinnow export agreement at zero percent duty with Thailand following the visit of Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Talking to Business Recorder, acting CEO of Harvest Trading, Azam Ishaque said currently Thai market is not open for Pakistani fruits but due to our geo-economic position Kinnow may easily serve the consumption volumes in ASEAN region.
Thailand is a trading nation and the exchange of business delegations could be a better option for exploring areas of common interest. Thailand has recently been recognised as the `world kitchen' owing to the plenty of food resources as well as the continuous success in development in food industry. Pakistan could benefit from Thailand in processing of food to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables to curtail post harvest losses.
In this regard, Azam Ishaque suggested that both countries may set-up a joint committee on agriculture and share the concepts of modern technologies in agricultural systems for the improvement of agricultural productions such as crop yield, livestock production, aquaculture production and sustainable agriculture.

News Source: Business Recorder                                                                                         News Collected: agrinfobank.com Team

Pakistan urged to tap global seedless citrus market

Thursday, July-11-2013

Pakistan should promote production of seedless citrus, which are in high demand globally, in a bid to grab the international market where citrus with seeds are discouraged.

This issue came up for discussion in a meeting of the board of directors of Endowment Funds Secretariat, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) here on Wednesday. The meeting was presided over by UAF Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.

In the meeting, a UAF project was approved under which seedless plants would be cultivated on the orchards of farmers for demonstration in five districts of Punjab including Faisalabad, Sargodha and Toba Tek Singh. Ten farmers will be selected from each district.

UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan underlined the need for technology transfer among farmers, which would help in increasing per acre production in the country.

Talking about edible oil, he expressed concern that Pakistan was importing edible oil worth a hefty $3 billion and called for promoting oilseed production by creating awareness among farmers.

UAF has developed a high-yielding canola oil seed named UAF-11 with the help of which the crop matures in four months with more oil content.

Talking about Basmati rice production, he argued that paddy crop needed high quantity of water, which was scarce in Pakistan and increased the cost of production. He called for a shift to other high-value crops like oilseed.

Farmers Associates Pakistan CEO Afaq Ahmad Tiwana stressed that transfer of technology among farmers would ensure food security in the country. He suggested developing new high-yielding varieties of crops, saying food security was the main area of concern that must be addressed by taking tangible steps.

Ayub Research Director General Dr Noorul Islam said average wheat production in Punjab was 28 maunds per acre, which vary from area to area as in Chakwal the production was 10 maunds per acre and in Bhakkar 16 maunds per acre.

He asked farmers to grow high-value crops keeping in view the climate and rain patterns, country’s needs and the international market.

News Source: The Express Tribune
News Collected by agrinfobank.com Team

Kinnow exporters to be provided more incentives

June 21, 2013

The government is optimistic about increasing the quantum of citrus fruit exports (especially Kino) and will devise a policy providing more incentives to exporters, Ministers of State Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said. He was replying to a call-attention notice moved by Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha about inordinate delay in export of Kino.
The state minister said that the delay had occurred because exporters had decided in a meeting held on November 8 last year to stop the export of Kino. However, he said that the export had resumed on Decmber 1 last year. He said that Iran was a large buyer of Pakistani kino, adding that the country missed export target in 2012.

Source: http://www.brecorder.com

KINNOW MANDARIN: THE PREMIER CITRUS OF PAKISTAN

*Muhammad Shafique Khalid,** Aman Ullah Malik,* Samina Khalid,* Omer Hafeez and *M. Amin

* PhD Scholar, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

**Professor, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) is one of the major citrus cultivars and is extensively grown in Pakistan. It was developed by H.B. Frost at California as hybrid (F1 generation) between King and Willow leaf during 1915; released in 1935 and was introduced in sub continent during 1943-44. The first plantation in Pakistan was made at Experimental Fruit Garden of Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute Lyallpur (now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad). Since its introduction, it has flourished well under the agro-ecological conditions of Punjab, Pakistan. According to an estimate approximately 95% of the world Kinnow is being produced in Pakistan (Anonymous, 2011). The Kinnow fruit of Pakistan possesses superior taste, flavor and aroma and competes well with other citrus cultivars in qualitative and nutritive attributes as under:

Ø Kinnow grown in Pakistan is naturally coloured, no chemical degreening is needed.

Ø The fruit peel off very easily unlike other citrus members.

Ø Kinnow mandarin fruits have higher juice contents i.e. 53% as compared to other citrus varieties e.g. Grapefruit (48.50%), Blood Red (37.7%). Even Kinnow is juicier than Clementine mandarin.

Ø Kinnow has 18.59% more vitamin C as compared to Blood Red orange, 9.9% than Musambi and 6.65% than Grapefruit. Vitamin C protects against cancer by scavenging their causing compounds.

Ø As far as minerals contents (calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and sodium) are concerned, Kinnow possess 11.11% more calcium than Grape fruit, 14.50% than Blood Red and 16.27% than Musambi. Similarly Kinnow has 10.73% higher Magnesium contents than Grapefruit, 14.19% than Blood Red and 15.87% than Musambi. Iron contents are also 7.93% greater in Kinnow than Grapefruit, 11.47% than Blood Red and 28.30% than Musambi.

Ø Kinnow mandarin is also loaded with photochemicals like antioxidants and phenolic compounds. Almost 16.18% high phenolic compounds are present in Kinnow as compared to Blood Red.

Ø Kinnow has about 16.14%, 6.05% and 47.02% higher antioxidant activity than that of Blood Red, Hamlin and Lemon respectively. These compounds are very important due to their antiallergic, anti inflammatory, anticancer and antiviral properties

Ø Kinnow mandarin is good source of Folic acid, β-carotene etc. Folic acid is recommended before and early pregnancy for healthy babies (avoiding neural tube defects). While β-carotene is important in immune response and also acts as antioxidant.

Ø Consumption of Kinnow fruits can provide sufficient quantities of pectin in diet as juice sac walls and capillary membranes are effective source of pectin. Pectin affects several metabolic and digestive processes most important of them are its affect on glucose absorption and maintaining cholesterol levels. Dietary fiber also reduces the chances of colon cancer by absorbing carcinogen in gastrointestinal tract.

Table 1: Biochemical profile of Kinnow mandarin of Pakistan

1. Juice (%age)^* 51-54

2. TSS ^oBrix^* 09-10.3

3. Acidity (%age)^* 0.55-1.0

4. Ascorbic acid (mg/100ml)^* 41-53

5. Total Sugars (%age)^* 7.2-7.5

6. Total phenolics compound (ppm) ^* 852-1059

7. Antioxidant activity (I %)^* 65-73

8. Calcium (mg/100ml)⁺ 0.750

9. Iron (mg/100ml)⁺ 0.338

10. Magnesium (mg/100ml)⁺ 7.48

SOURCE: ^*Khalid and Malik (unpublished data); ⁺Rashid, (2007);

Variation exists for different maturity stages

Table 2: Biochemical profile of other citrus varieties grown in Pakistan.

Grape fruit Blood Red Musambi

1. Juice (%age)^{** *} 48.50 37.70 54.0

2. TSS ^oBrix⁺ 7.50 10.0 10.5

3. Acidity (%age) ⁺ 1.39 0.55 0.32

4. Ascorbic acid (mg/100ml)⁺ 46.39 36.38 43.45

5. Total Sugars (%age) ⁺ 5.3 5.55 8.51

6. Total phenolics compound (ppm) ---- 255.0^** ----

7. Antioxidant activity (I %) ---- 49.1⁺⁺ ----

8. Calcium (mg/100ml) ⁺ 0.602 0.562 0.542

9. Iron (mg/100ml)⁺ 0.287 0.268 0.188

10. Magnesium (mg/100ml)⁺ 6.03 5.62 5.42

SOURCE: ⁺ Rashid, (2007); ^** Tounsi et al. (2010); ⁺⁺Scalzo et al. (2004); ^{** *}Ikhtiar et al. (2010)

Variation exists for different maturity stages

Table 2: Biochemical profile of citrus varieties grown in USA.

	Tangerine	Clementine	Navel	Valencia	Grapefruit	Lemon
Energy Kcal	53	47	49	49	32	29
Total lipids (g)	0.31	0.15	0.15	0.30	0.10	0.30
Carbohydrates(g)	13.34	12.02	12.54	11.89	8.08	9.32
Dietary fiber (g)	1.8	1.7	2.2	2.5	1.6	0.4
β Carotene (mcg)	155	----	87	----	552	3
α Carotene(mcg)	101	----	7	----	4	1
β Crytoxanthin, (mcg)	407	----	116	----	6	20
Vitamin A IU(IU)	681	----	247	230	927	22
Vitamin E (mg)	0.20	0.20	0.15	----	0.13	0.15
Folate (mcg)	16	----	34	39	10	11

SOURCE: USDA National Nutrient database (2010)

It is clearly concluded from above facts and figures that Tangerine including Kinnow has higher energy, carbohydrates, carotenes, Vitamins, Minerals contents (Ca, Mg and Iron), Juice percentage, Phenolics compound and Antioxidant activity than other citrus varieties grown nationally and internationally. Its distinguished features like natural color, easy peel, aroma, size and good blend of TSS to acidity ratio is an asset and worth for consumer attraction and export of Kinnow from the country.

References:
Anonymous, 2010. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture research service data base for standard reference release 23. Available at: www.ars.usd.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl. Date of retrieval: 25 Jan 2011.
Anonymous, 2011. All about Citrus. Available at: http://www.pakissan.com /english/allabout/ orchards/ citrus/index.shtml. Date of retrieval: 25 Jan 2011.
Khalid, S. and Malik, A.U. Fruit quality and storability of Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) in relation to tree age. (Unpublished data).
Khan, I., Shah, Z., Saeed, M. and Shah, H. 2010. Phytochemical analysis of Citrus sinensis, Citrus reticulata and Citrus paradise. J. Chem. Soc. Pak., Vol. 32(6). 774-780.
Rashid, A. 2007. Evaluation of organic acids and mineral contents in citrus juices. M.Sc (Hons) Thesis, National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFSAT), University of Agricutlure, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Scalzoa, R.L., Iannoccari, T., Summa, C., Morelli, R. and Rapisarda, P. 2004. Effect of thermal treatments on antioxidant and antiradical activity of blood orange juice. Food Chem. 85, 41–47.
Tounsi, M. S., Wannes, W. A. Ouerghemmi, I. Jegham, S. Njima, Y. B., Hamdaoui, G. Zemnib, H. and Marzouka, B. 2011. Juice components and antioxidant capacity of four Tunisian Citrus varieties. J Sci Food Agric. 91: 142–151.

Important Note: This article is copyright and sole property of agrinfobank.com, In case of republished or reproduced on your blog/website/Magazine, Kindly contact with us at contact@agrinfobank.com. In case of copyrights violation a strong action must be taken.