COVID-19 pandemic takes a surprising turn as it has recently raised the demand for Kinnow of Pakistan in international markets. It is; however, known as Mandarin Hybrid fruit which delivers a unique flavor that is similar to none in the markets like Iran, Russia, and other countries of Central Asia also look forward in buying the fruits every year.
Pakistan earned the highest export revenue only last year that was over $ 222 million only from exports that were amounting from 370,000 tons of Kinnow.
According to the reports, total trade volume of Pakistan for the Kinnow is at Rs. 125 billion. So, among the major harvesting units, Sargodha and Faisalabad accounts for majority of the Kinnow yield, having 80% of the total production of Pakistan as per the last year.
During the season of Kinnow around 250,000 individuals gets the employment at over 350 production facilities that are set across the country.
On an average, Exports of Pakistan is from 3- 4 lac tonnes of the Kinnow like in every year. The Central Asian countries like Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and the Uzbekistan are also some of the major export destinations as for the fruits; however, Russia is the biggest buyer of fruits in the export market.
Moreover, the demand for fruits continues to increase as in every season, local distribution and the exporters this year are dealing and facing problems for the deliveries in international market as for international supply chain.
This year the local exporters have also set a target like for exporting around 3.5 lac tons of the Kinnow in the international markets and the probability for achieving the set target has increased due to the pandemic pod coronavirus, with other countries worldwide are turning their attention for another huge yield of fruit in our country.
Meanwhile focusing on highly anticipated demand of Kinnow yield during this season has coupled up with an on-and-off type supply-chain issues; however, Pakistan is still like capable to raise or increase the total exports of this fruit and the associated products as up to $1 billion. In order to achieve this, there is a need of government support to integrate with the local distribution and supply channels to increase the sales in international markets.
