Pakistan vegetable exports up by 87%

Export of vegetables and fruits registered an increase of 87.01 per cent and 16.55 per cent in value terms, respectively, during the last eleven months of the 2010/11, a leading exporter said on Sunday. About 612,952 tonnes of fruits worth $26.1 million were exported during the period from July to May 2010/11, which was 16.55 per cent higher than 446,516 tonnes of fruits worth $22.4 million exported in the same period of 2009/10, Ahmad Jawad, the CEO of Harvest Trading said. The export of vegetables increased by 87.01 per cent to 590,503 tonnes, which earned $20.6 million in 2010/11. Pakistan earned $1.9 million by exporting leguminous vegetables (pulses) during last eleven months of the year 2010/11. The export of pulses was recorded at only 37 tonnes during the same period. However, rice export from the country observed negative growth as export of the commodity decreased by 0.69 per cent as about 3,411,726 tonnes of rice exported in last 11 months of last financial year as compared with 3,771,986 tonnes of rice exported during the same period of fiscal 2009-10. The export of basmati rice increased by 9.71 per cent as $85.9 million were added in the national forex reserves by exporting the item from the country. From / Gulf Today