PAKISSAN.com; Agriculture Biotechnology Industry

Our extra-crippling economic situation and anticipated impact of enactment of World Trade. Organisation (WTO), industrial liberalisation and free market economy has created unprecedented threat for countries like Pakistan to
sustain even at low economic profile. In the prevalent situation, our low-tech industrial set-up is unable to sustain in high competitive global market system, hence presently it may not realistic to widely rely on our industrial sector for future economic up lift.

Realising the situation now it becomes essential to embark on other potential resources like agriculture. Fortunately, agriculture is one least exploited but most promising sector, which offers tremendous potential for sustainable
growth and economic development and above all security for sufficient food supply for120 million peoples of this country likely to be doubled in 35 years.

Although Pakistan is blessed with vast area of fertile soil, favourable topography, suitable climatic condition and water wealth which has already been developed into World largest canal irrigation system, but our per hectare yield of almost all the crops is persistently lowest. Our poor agriculture management both in terms of input and yield directly responsible for prevalently agricultural scenario, consequently, the country instead of moving towards self-sufficiency has become food importer, thus crippling the economy by exerting the heavy pressure on national exchequer.

Among the various constraints in agriculture productivity, the small holdings and subsistent living of our farmer is the root cause of most of our current agricultural shortfalls and difficulties. Inspite of the fact that small farmers are the backbone of Pakistan's agriculture, but the majority of the farmers can not contribute to national economic growth because of the small size of their holdings as well as to the acute socio-economic problems they face in their struggle to survive in the class of private owners which doesn't allow them even to think about the progressive agriculture.

Statistics shows that in Pakistan, 74 % of agricultural holdings with 40 % of the cultivated land are the property of very small holders, who own under 5 hectares of land each, which is below the official minimum subsistence level.
Another 17 % of farms, with a further 26 % of the cultivated land, are the property of small holders with 5 to 10 hectares each. This means that 81 % of farms in Pakistan are small holdings with approximately 66 % of the
country's entire cultivated land.

Sometimes these holdings are so uneconomical that the quantity they grow is even not sufficient for the survival of the holders and their families, let alone allowing any part of the produce to be taken to the market and contribute to the expansion of the national economy. Small farmers are in fact powerless to stop the deterioration of their holdings. Water-logging and salinity every year destroy hundred of acres of Pakistan's cultivated land. The main
part of this destroyed land is made up to the holdings of small farmers.

Above discussed situation and new global political and economic strategy has created extreme urgency for through odernisation of our agriculture sector by introducing the advanced technologies and management system for sustainable development in agriculture production very specifically, considering the highly economical utility of small holdings.

To uproot the above chronic issue following measures are essential.

(a) Introduction of high tech agriculture.
(b) Involvement of private entrepreneur in agriculture.
(c) Direct interception of agriculture professional and farmers in the fields.

BIOTECHNOLOGY: SCOPE AND APPLICATION

Biotechnology has opened an exciting frontier in sustainable development of human resources. With the realization of foreseen advantages and unprecedented application, biotechnology received great attention all the world over, including developing countries. Biotechnology offers tremendous novel opportunities for exponential growth of agricultural.

Using advance propagation techniques and intensive cultivation for plant species are collectively termed as agri-biotech. Propagation is essentially a reproduction process whereas intensive cultivation involves scientific irrigation and growing techniques. Therefore propagation (production technology) and intensive cultivation (management technology) will be
discussed in detail.

Propagation

For production of rapid and high quality planting material currently three advance technologies are being applied successfully over the world for high tech agriculture. These are:-

• Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) Technology
• Hybrid Seed Production Technology
• Seedling Production Technology

(A) Plant Tissue Culture

The Concept

Plant biotechnology has opened an exciting frontier in sustainable development of human resources. With the realisation of foreseen advantages and unprecedented application, biotechnology received great attention all the
world over, including developing countries. Among the various biotechnologies Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) also called as micro- propagation technology is most successful and widely used discipline. PTC offers tremendous novel
opportunities for plant improvement.

It is only through process of micropropagation PTC has attained the status of industrial technology. Micropropagation systems are initiated by taking microscopic group of cells from a donor plant and culturing these under sterile conditions, and grown in nutrient media following the protocol. Broad portfolio of protocols, skilled labour and modern facilities with high cleanliness standards are necessary for a successful venture. A protocol for a particular variety is a detailed procedure to multiply it. Development of protocol is a complicated and research oriented process. Then the transfer of these cultures in controlled environment of a laboratory growth room results the initiation of multiple micro-shoots. The micro-shoots are rooted in vitro and transferred as microplants to nursery for establishment and growing on. PTC represents quantum improvement over conventional propagation techniques such as vegetative
planting. PTC can be used to propagate almost any plant variety on a large scale. Due to accelerated growth and uniform quality of clones PTC is proving out to be a important source of planting material.

There are several distinct advantages in commercial production of plants through micropropagation over conventional methods. Micropropagated plants are raised under sterile conditions that exclude disease causing organisms, and
induce rapid multiplication, maintaining clonal and phenotypic uniformity among the offspring, conservation of space, round the year production, divers range of product and disease indexed plant making easier international exchange.

Breeding new plant varieties is a necessity but frequently slow and costly process. However, by selecting individual high yielding plants from within crop population and applying micropropagation technique and entire crop can be
produced with the premium qualities of original parent plant.

The Benefits

1. PLANTING MATERIAL - due to accelerated growth and uniform quality of clones. PTC is proving out to be an important source of planting material.

2. HIGH HEALTH - the sterile environment of micropropagation system produces plants of a health level that matches the quality demanded by today's plant raiser.

3. DISEASE INDEXING - where specific fungal, bacterial or virus disease are known to affect the crops, disease indexed material can be screened and introduced into the micropropagation system. The effect of the large scale
introduction of disease indexed material into a crop population can be dramatic. Once disease indexed tissue is available it can be stored indefinitely in a gene bank and accessed for re-introduction to the crop
programme at regular intervals.

4. NCREASED VIGOUR - a characteristic of microplants due primarily to the optimum nutrient and hormone balances created during the micropropagation period.

5. ELIMINATE STOCK PLANTS - stock plants that may be reservoirs of disease can be eliminated and the space and time employed more profitably.

6. YEAR ROUND PRODUCTION - the total environment control exercised in the laboratory enables year round production regardless of season.

7. VOLUME PRODUCTION - plants are available in the form of unweaned direct from culture, semi weaned and rooted in advanced fogging room, or weaned, rooted and conditioned to the environment of the customer's nursery in desired quantity.

(B): Hybrid Seed Production

Hybrid seed embody an improvement over conventional seeds in terms of qualities such as yield and disease resistance. They are developed by crossing parent lines. Seeds produced from hybrids tend to revert back to either of the original parent lines, losing desirable qualities of hybrid. This compels farmers to sow hybrids every time for similar results. Development of new hybrids is research intensive having long gestation periods of 5-8 years.
Multiplication of hybrids is a labour intensive process, normally done by contract farming. It requires careful monitoring to ensure genetic purity. Strong customer orientation is necessary to make a successful hybrid as its
development is specific to agro-climatic zone and needs of the farmers. Selection of parent lines for hybrid development requires experience and access to broad genebank. Parent lines are either identified from nature or made to order using transgenetic technique.

Hybrid seed is high valued alternative for conventional seed. For high- technology cropping systems, where timing and quality is critical management factor, hybrid seed provides faster emergence, more rapid initial growth and
healthy product.

(C) Seedlings Production

Planting material with faster emergence more rapid and uniform initial growth, certified, virus-free and disease indexed, vigorous and healthy growth ensure the successful transplantation and high yield. Among the agriculture inputs
planting material (seed/seedlings) quality is extremely important and decisive factor for optimum yield. Use of un-hygenic unknown and poor quality planting material results drastic yield losses. Although seedling production has
gained a status of huge industry the world over, but in Pakistan availability of certified, high quality, disease and virus-free planting material at cost effective prices is not possible, which is one root cause of low agriculture
productivity, because so far no scientifically compatible system is existing in all the country. As seedling production technique is highly sophisticated, labour intensive and needs very organised professional backup and standard
infrastructure.

A higher standard of earlier uniform emergence can mean saving in direct field seeding or in green house space, labour and material, which provide additional opportunities to precision plant at reduced rates along with potential for
more uniform crop which is prerequisite for production of export quality agriculture commodities.

Cultivation

Cultivation mean using scientific irrigation, fertigation and growth technologies of quality planting material. Shift of emphasis on horticulture and floriculture in world market has created unprecedented growth in these fields and hence, competition in world trade.

Horticulture is intensive management of garden crops, edible (fruits and vegetable) as well as ornamental (flowers). The latter, termed as floriculture in common parlance is considered separately. Horticulture involves application of scientific growing techniques and close monitoring for production of fresh fruits and vegetables. Horticultural products are normally seasonal and sensitive to change in climatic conditions. These products are extremely perishable making logistics and important issue in commercial horticulture especially in export market.

Floriculture involves production and marketing of ornamental crops such as cut flowers, potted flowering plants and foliage plants. These are grown either in the field or under protected environment. Cultivation under protected environment that is greenhouse considerably reduces the risks of climatic stresses such as rain, wind, humidity, emperature and ultraviolet rays.

Modern irrigation and climate control equipment coupled with growing techniques are crucial in floriculture as fresh floricultural products are extremely perishable and sensitive to climatic conditions. Due to the sensitivity of revenues to quality, maintenance of cold chain is the most critical aspect of export marketing, entailing high cost. Close monitoring and personalised attention are the keys to success. Expansion beyond a point can result in dilution of personalised attention thereby affecting quality and revenues.

Technology

Plant Tissue Culture
Tissues are excised from the mother plant on laminar benches and their surface is sterilised for removing superficial contamination. It is carefully dissected into many small clusters of plant cells and placed in vessels containing artificial nutrient medium prepared in the kitchen. The medium contains vitamins, amino acids and growth hormones. The vessels are kept in the growth room where shoots are induced. The longer shoots are then separated on laminar
branches and placed in different vessels containing altered medium. The vessels are again placed in growth room to form plantlets. Plantlets are reared in greenhouse where they acclimatise to real conditions. Plantlets in vessels
can also be transported directly.

Hybrid Seeds
Parental lines to be used for hybrid development are either identified from nature or are made to order using transgenic technique. This technique involves insertion of a gene of one species into a DNA of another species. This technique allows incorporation of a particular characteristic of one species to the other. Parent lines chosen for the disired hybrid are crossed. Crossing is essentially transfer and germination of pollens (male cells) in the ovules (egg cells) to form seed. Several permutations of selection, crossing and testing are needed to get the target hybrid. Properties of target hybrids are confirmed on research farms, After confirmation, foundation seeds (both male and female parents) are provided to contract farmers for crossing on the field to produce commercial seeds. These are tested for germination and genetic purity before distribution.

Floriculture (Cut flowers)
Planting material is planted in greenhouses, which protect the plants and flowers from wind, rain, and ultraviolet radiation. Irrigation system provides water and fertilisers to the plants. Temperature and humidity control is
maintained by air cooling system. Harvested flowers are precooled to prevent wilting and minimise respiration. Grading is done primarily on stem length. After grading the flowers are wrapped in paper and packed in corrugated
boxes. Packed flowers are kept in cold rooms until they are dispatched to the airport in refrigerated vans. At the airport they are stored in refrigerated rooms. Effective cold chain is maintained till the flowers reach the customer.

GLOBAL SCENARIO

Plant Tissue Culture or Micropropagation industry is in fact, one of the recognised global profit making option. It is estimated that there is a world market potential of 15 billion US dollars per year for the tissue culture products. At present, the demand for the micropropagated plants far exceeds the production of commercial laboratories, e.g., in the Netherlands in 1986, 50m plants were produced, against the demand of 85m plants. The demand had gone up to 250m plant in 1990-91, whereas the production barely touched the 80 million plant level, leaving lot of scope for expansion. There has been exponential growth in the number of commercial laboratories globally producing 52 billion
tissue cultured plants since 1990 through 800 tissue culture laboratories (Table 1). The world market for PTC products is estimated to be around 715 million plantlets in 1995. The expected growth rate over the next few years is about 20%.

(Table I)

Country	Millions of Plants Production
The Netherlands	130
France	46
Italy	34
Other European Countries	60
East European countries	34
Isreal	6
Australia and New Zealand	46
Asia	92
United State of America	115
Total	513

Among the South Asian countries, India has developed PTC as large industry. In 1994 there are about 21 commercial plant propagation units in production with annual capacity of 80 m plants. Another 14 units with annual production
capacity of 60m plants are in the pipeline. There has been a vertical expansion with about 50 industrial units since 1987. As production of plant tissue culture products being labour intensive is expected to shift from developed countries to the low wage developing countries.

Hybrid Seed Developing countries are facing the prospect of stagnant or even declining area under cultivation and rising population. This exerts pressure on existing land to increase the yield. Diminishing returns from inputs such as
fertilisers, farm equipment's and irrigation limit productivity growth. Therefore, improving yield by adopting hybrids remains the only solution to increase per capita agricultural production and improve nutrition levels.

This, coupled with low penetration of hybrids translates into a huge growth potential for hybrid seeds in developing countries. In developed countries on the other hand growth potential is limited due to high production cost penetration of hybrids and less urgent needs for increasing yield, therefore, consequently high cost of multiplication activity would shift to low cost developing countries. Under the World Trade Organisation regime plant protection laws would be enforced to effectively protecting proprietary research of hybrid companies.

Horticultural consumption is increasing throughout the world and clocked a CAGR of 9 % between 1985-90. In 1992 world production of fruits was around 375 million MT. Less than 1 % of world horticultural trade takes place in fresh
products. For most products local preferences dominate more or less matching demand and supply. The European Community and North America are the largest importers while Latin America is the largest exporter. In the EC, India has a miniscule share of 0.06% compared to 10.6% of Chile and 8.7% of Ecuador. In the US market, Caribbean and Latin American countries dominate.

World floriculture market was around US $ 40 million in 1992. Cut flowers accounted for US $ 25 billion expected to grow at around 10-12% per annum. Germany, Japan and USA are the major consumers. World Trade in floriculture
products was US $ 6.64 billion in 1992, fresh cut flowers accounting for US $ 3.56 billion. For historical reasons, auction centers in Netherlands dominate the trade with about 70 % of the world trade passing through them in the form
of import and re-export. Apart from Netherlands, Germany is a major importer whereas Columbia, Italy and Israel are major exporters. There is a definite trend towards sourcing floricultural products from developing countries. This
is due to the increasing labour and energy costs in Europe

INDIAN AGRI-BIOTECH INDUSTRY

A comprehensive account of Indian Agriculture Biotechnology is elaborated in this discussion for comparative analysis keeping in view the same agroechological and socio-economic back ground of Pakistan and India. Further this account will provide an incentive to our agriculture entrepreneurs, farmers and government authorities to follow the vision, awareness and initiative of neighbouring country in this vital field of agriculture.

Among the South Asian countries India agrobiotech industry in growing with tremendous pace. Indian has developed indigenous highly competitive human resources and high tech infrastructure in this field. Due to low labour cost,
strong research base, rich domestic varieties and diverse agro-climateic zones India has a potential to emerge as a major global player for planting material. Owing to increased awareness and improved purchasing power among farmers. With three fourths of the cultivated area still under conventional seeds, prospects of hybrid seeds business are bright. Compared to public bred seeds developed by government laboratories; importance of privately developed research seeds will improve due to better quality and distribution network.

Favourable agro-climatic conditions and low labour costs will help India become an important player in selected products such as grapes and cut roses. The Government offered by incentives will help boost floriculture exports.
Infrastructural problems, such as limited cold storage's and reluctance of airlines to carry floriculture cargo could constrain growth.

Market Analysis in Indian Perspective

Plant Tissue Culture

Market: Domestic demand will be driven by government afforestaton/plantation plans and private plantings. Assuming only 20 % penetration in short term, the demand is expected to be around 600 million plantlets p.a. for the next few years. Export demand will grow due to shifting production bases to developing countries.

Industry: PTC industry in Indian is at its nascent stage comprising about 35 units with an estimated capacity of 150 million plantlets p.a. Due to huge demand supply gap, several new entrants are expected to set up shop. However,
delays in government plans could translate into less spectacular demand growth.

Demand could be volatile for individual variety. Initially, demand could be price elastic. However with increased awareness and penetration it would turn price inelastic due to the superior nature of the product. Supply is constant
in the near term and increasing over medium term due to new entrants. Price can be set for new varieties, with possible government ceiling being the limiting factor. Companies with diversified portfolio and continuous R&D for new
protocols would experience sustained earnings.

Agro-biotech is posed to emerge as an important sector of agri-business in India. In the domestic market, huge demand supply gap for quality propagation material and on the export front, government incentives to promote
horticulture exports translate into excellent growth prospects for the sector. India industry would benefit under WTO regime due to its strong competitive position in agri-biotech sector.

Hybrid Seeds

Market: Consumption of seeds in India has grown from RS. 3.4 billion in 1961to an estimated RS. 50 billion in 1994 of which research hybrids account for RS. 7.2 billion. Due to growing awareness of benefits from hybrids, farmers are
expected to increasingly switch to hybrids. Even among hybrids, the shift would be more pronounced for privately developed research seeds which are expected to show a demand growth rate of 15 %. Indian companies are expected to tap export markets due to competitive strengths. They are also expected to tie up with foreign companies planning to sue India as a sourcing base for development and multiplication.

Industry: Historically, Indian seed industry was dominated by public sector seed corporations. As the public sector could not meet the growing requirement, in seventies, private sector was let in. Currently, Indian seed industry is highly fragmented with the largest private sector producer holding only 8-9% of the market. Public bred seeds are developed by government research laboratories and can be grown by any producer. Research seeds developed by private sector
companies are proprietary. Huge demand potential would attract new entrants to the sector. Established companies would benefit most due to a headstart in hybrid development and grassroot distribution network. Loss of revenue due
to illegal diversion of hybrids could be effectively dealt with due to better protection under new laws.

Demand is volatile for an individual variety as it depends on climatic factors and government policies. At higher income levels demand is price inelastic. Supply for individual variety can adjust to the changes in demand only in the
medium term. Public ored varieties behave as near commodities for price determination whereas firms can command their price for research seeds. Seeds purchased from contract growers account for over 60% of the total costs.
Companies with diversified portfolio with increasing proportion of research seeds and broad development pipeline would enjoy sustained earnings growth.

Horticulture

Market: Production of fruits in Indian was around 30 million MT in 1992. Though India is the second largest producer of fruits in the world, it has a minuscule share of world fresh fruit trade. Except for mangoes, its share in the world
fresh fruits trade is less than 1% Grapes and mangoes are important fruits in India's exports are to the Middle East though the EC is emerging as an important market particularly for grapes in which India is competitive.

Horticulture Export

Industry: As India has diverse agro-climatic Zones, horticulture has developed in various regions suitable for different kinds of fruits. Most of the players in this industry are small family businesses, With increasing awareness about
export markets new large players are emerging both for fresh fruits and processed fruits marketing. Increasing protectionist tendencies in the EC might slow down India's access to the important market. Increased bargaining
power of large retail chains might affect price realisation of Indian fresh horticultural products. Close monitoring, logistics and development of newer markets are the keys to sustained earnings.

Floriculture

Market: Commercial floriculture industry in India is export oriented. Export demand is seasonal with demand and prices peaking in December and February. Indian floriculture exports would rise rapidly in the coming years easily surpassing the export target of RS. I billion by Fy97. Most of the export trade is routed through Dutch auctions. Domestic market is spread out and unorganised except in the case for major cities. Domestic market is expected to increase to RS. Billion by 1996 from RS. 700 million in 1994.

Floriculture Export

Industry: Floriculture industryis in its nascent stage in India with around 40 projects in various stage of implementation. Most of these projects are for cut roses having technical and marketing collaborations with foreign companies.
The units are coming up near Pune, Delhi and Bangalore mainly due to favourable agro-climatic conditions and proximity t international airports. Apart from genuine players, many companies with ulterior motives have contributed to the rush of new entrants observed in this sector. Infrastructural problems such as inadequate connecting flights, unwillingness of airliners to lift floriculture cargo could constrain future growth. Companies with limited financial backing
could face survival crisis if the learning process prolongs, Export demand is extremely sensitive to quality and volatile for individual varieties.. Supply will increase rapidly in medium term due to new entrants. Firms are price takers due to commodity nature of the products with limited branding opportunities. Selling and distributic cost account for more than half of the total cost and comprise freight, import duty, auction and agent commission. There is a possibility of a reduction in import duty in the EC improving margins by 12-15%. However, protectionist tendencies of local growers could delay this. Quality, cost optimisation, choice of varieties and reduction in dependence on auction market are the keys to sustained earnings.

Israel : A Landmark in High tech Agriculture

Information technology (IT) and computers are a dominant factor in agricultural production in Israel. These are also major components in the wide variety of Israeli exports. Israel's comparative advantage in adopting IT and computers to agriculture lies in the close collaboration between farmers, extension, research and the IT industry that serves them. IT is expected to play a dominant role in the major developments in agriculture system.

At present, 440,000ha are cultivated and of these half are irrigated with an increasing share devoted to greenhouses and other forms of computer-controlled environment. The gross agricultural product is around US $ 3 billion with
exports at 20 per cent.

The results of these implementation and government agriculture policies have been spectacular in comparison to farming communities world wide. Results have included a fall in agricultural fresh water needs over the last twenty years.

Crop sales have registered high profits, and yields from one cubic meter of water rose from 46 US cents in 1950 to US $ 2.04 in 1990. Today Israel exports about US $ 600 m of fresh foods, US $ 600m of processed foods and US $ 1.2
billion in agricultural inputs. High economic value has also resulted in successes such as an average of 300 tons of tomatoes per hectare being harvested from Israeli greenhouses, the cotton yield standing at six tons per hectare, and cotton production requiring only five working days/year/ha. Computerised pedigree database for the entire national dairy herd, to produce new types and breeds of livestock that have very high yield and value relative to their inputs. These and many other achievements are the reason that Israel Holds very special place in the world of agricultural and they converted this small country in to one large experimental station.

Israeli agriculture has been forced to cope with three major disadvantages: lack of fertile soil, scarce water resources and high manpower costs. These serious impediments to the development of an agricultural industry were solved
in innovative ways. An overall look at available soil was taken, and high-yield crops were cultivated to offset the shortage of good soil. In order to make the best use of the limited quantities of water, highly sophisticated irrigation methods were developed. These methods included drip irrigation, which feeds the plant the correct amount of water, without wastages. And high manpower costs were combated by the existing manpower attaining high productivity levels.

Ironically, however, the fertile soil that exists in this small country is scattered among various soil types, climates and topologies, ranging from sub- tropical and temperate to desert. This has given Israel the advantage of producing a wide variety of crops, and being able to respond quickly to export demands.

Innovation and resource sharing extends beyond production to marketing and sales. Much agricultural produce has historically been exported through marketing boards and co-operatives. The reduced competition between agricultural producers has lead to information sharing, further contributing to technological development. While the marketing boards have become less central over recent years, information sharing is still very much the norm.

Finally, the kibbutz or collective farm is a major contributing factor to the development of Israeli agriculture. As the kibbutz settlement systems developed, it provided from within its ranks qualified layers of professional
agronomists and agricultural economists whose natural inclination when addressing and solving farming problems was to relate the individual issue to all elements of the farming community, thus placing problems within their
greater context.

In addition, many industrial plants are located on kibbutzim, contributing to an overall trend towards modernisation. The fact that the kibbutz collective includes farm and factory, and the owners are one and the same, means that
the vertical integration between factory and field is extremely of efficient.

High Tech Agriculture: Present Status in Pakistan

Plant Tissue Culture

Keeping in view the technical and commercial status of PTC at global level, the situation of Pakistan with the world scenario is miserably poor and of least commercial significance. Although Pakistan enjoys unique position and offers
many advantages over other countries in the setting up micropropagation industry with its rich land resources spread over divers agroclimate zones, profuse solar radiation throughout the year, good quality water, availability of skilled manpower as well as labour at much cheaper rate.

In Pakistan, almost all (ten) PTC laboratories are in public sector and universities. In spite of noticeable contribution in the basic research in PTC technology, commercial exploitation remained insignificant. Most of the research work conducted in universities or research institutions has not been developed beyond laboratory level achievements. Generally, research in Pakistan is based on public funds and the interest of research laboratories does not
match with those of industry or the results are technically immature.

Moreover, ironically so far no commercially viable plant tissue culture laboratory has been established in private sector in all over the country. However, Agriculture Biotechnologies Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., is operating in the field of micropropagation and seed production since 1995 to achieve the excellence in high tech agriculture.

• HORTICULTURE AND FLORICULTURE
These two important sectors are still untapped, although Pakistan has spectacular competitive advantages in these field both for domestic and global market. On export scene a positive trend is observed in fruits and to certain
extent in vegetable, however, our floriculture sector is totally neglected specifically for export marketing. A tremendous amount of efforts is needed to develop trend in advance, export oriented floriculture to tap the unlimited scope in export marketing.

• FLORICULTURE WORLD MARKET
The world market in floriculture is estimated at US$ 50 billion and has been growing at a rate of 17 % p.a. Major portion of the demand is from the developed western economics but with land being a limitation, the supply position has remained virtually stagnant. In this scenario, developing counties like Pakistan, with large land mass and good climatic conditions, are expected to play a predominant role.

• PAKISTAN'S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN FLORICULTURE
1. High suitable and favourable climate, easy availability of land and low labour cost.

2. In the West, the biting cold of the winter months curtails flower production during Christmas and New Year, when the demand for flowers increases four fold. As this period is the prime cultivation time in Pakistan, the potential is enormous.

3. Proximity to markets in Japan, Pacific rim, South-East Asia and Middle East countries which have a large growing demand.

4. The following table illustrates that the prices average best in the first and fourth quarter at about 45-50 Dfl cents per stem and lower in the second and third quarters at about 40 Dfl cents per stem. However the price reaches as high as 80-120 Dfl cents per stem in December and May. The Pakistani flowering seasons is during the period November to April, hence the produce will be available in the first and last quarters, thus commanding highest prices in the international markets.

ADVANTAGES IN WORLD TRADING IN AGRI BIOT ECH

Manpower : Low cost and trainable labour. One of the largest agricultural scientific base.

Agroclimatic Zones : Favourable for floriculture. Diversity conducive for rich domestic varieties.

WTO : Pakistan to become more competitive due to reduction in agricultural subsides of developed countries ( to 10% by 2004 A.D) benefiting hybrid seeds segments.

CONSTRAINS

Local Infrastructure: Limited cold storage facilities for outbound cargo.

Air Transport: Inadequate connecting flights reluctance of airlines to carry high volume low weight cargo.

Technology Absorption: Long learning process to master foreign technology.

RECOMMENDATION

PROCEDURAL

1- Simplification of plant quarantine procedure.
2- 50% domestic sales allowed for floriculture EOUs.

FISCAL

1- Planting material put under OGL with import duty exemption.
2- Tax free earning for floriculture & tissue culture.
3- Air freight subsidy for floriculture cargo.

INFRASTRUCTURAL

1- Cold storage facilities for out bound floriculture cargo at the international.
2- Assistance in purchase of specialised transport units.
3- Plan for setting up model floriculture centers.

Writer
Dr. Fayyaz A. Siddiqui
CEO Agri Biotech

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