KARACHI: First Pakistan International Date Palm Festival and Exhibition aimed at bolstering country's production and export of dates and its value-added products kick starts at Expo Centre here.

Festival and exhibition are being organised by Ministry of National Food Security and Research and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan in collaboration with Embassy of United Arab Emirates in Pakistan and Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and agriculture innovation.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Chief Minster Syed Murad Ali Shah, UAE envoy to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Alzaabi, Secretary NFSR Ali Tahir, Chief Executive TDAP Zubair Motiwala and Secretary General Khalifa International Award Dr. Abdel Wahhab Zaid cut ribbon to inaugurate two-day festival and exhibition.

Tessori termed festival as reflection of friendly ties of Pakistan and UAE and said that it would not only open new avenues of sharing and cooperation for both brotherly countries but also help in promotion of Pakistani dates.

He said that there was vast potential for Pakistani dates in global market and full access of Pakistani dates to global market could earn precious foreign exchange for country.

He stressed on need of commercial plantation, reducing post-harvest loses, value addition and provision of technical assistance to farmers for enhancing production as well as export of dates. He urged local growers, manufacturers and exporters to leverage from technical expertise of UAE friends

Murad Ali Shah said that Pakistan is ranked at number five in date cultivation and production where date palm was cultivated on 252,000 acres while date production in year 2022 had remained over 730,000 tonne. Sindh is leading producer of dates which contributes more than 57 percent to total national production and Khairpur is major center for dates, producing more than 300 unique varieties.

Ministry of National Food Security and Research and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council is working on them, after experiments, 38 types were evaluated and 8 were recommended to be planted on large scale, Chief Minister said.He underscored need to introduce varieties with modern breeding programs from Gulf countries and said that tissue culture technology will play key role in accelerating proliferation of these superior strains.

Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain conveyed his speech through Secretary MNFS&R and said that this festival reflects deep bond and brotherhood between two countries.

As festival will be pathway to hope and prosperity by sustainable agricultural culture. He termed this festival as learning platform farmers, experts and traders to collaborate and bring sustainable practices in date farming. He thanked UAE government for extending support and guidance for date production and processing in Pakistan.

UAE envoy Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi said it would be unique festival with participation from countries around world.

He hoped that festival would boost export of Pakistani dates and significantly contribute to national economy. "This festival will provide an important opportunity to enhance economic relations between two countries and promote date production," statement said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 05 2024

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