Pakistan has kicked off kinnow exports for the current season, with the Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) setting a target of 300,000 tonnes expected to fetch $110 million in foreign exchange.
Since December 1, exporters have already shipped around 6,000 tonnes to the Middle East, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Last year, Pakistan exported 250,000 tons and earned $95 million. Despite this season’s bumper production – estimated at 2.7 million tonnes, up from 1.7 million tonnes – exports remain nearly 50% below the 550,000 tonnes shipped five years ago.
PFVA chief Waheed Ahmed attributed the decline to “zero investment in R&D” and failure to introduce new climate-resistant citrus varieties. The association has submitted short-, medium- and long-term plans to the government, which Ahmed said could lift citrus exports to $400 million within five years if implemented.
Read: Fruit seller’s ‘orange tree’ steals the limelight
He added that Pakistan must start growing new varieties sourced from Egypt, the US, Morocco and China, along with low-lying citrus types – lemon, grapefruit, orange and tangerine – which enjoy high global demand.
Pakistan’s wider citrus sector has long struggled with similar pressures. In Dir Upper and Lower, once home to prized honey-flavored oranges known as “nature’s candy,” plantations have steadily given way to shopping plazas as rising populations and land prices squeeze out growers. Dir’s famous oranges now survive on barely 300 acres, with traders often selling Punjab-grown fruit under the Rabat brand to meet local demand.
Read more: Center of orange groves in Dir
Agriculture officials say the organically grown Dir oranges – grown without pesticides or urea – demonstrate both Pakistan’s exceptional citrus potential and the consequences of neglecting scientific farming.
Ahmed warned that logistics remain a major barrier to export awareness. With the Afghanistan trade suspended, overland access to Central Asia and Russia has come to a standstill, forcing exporters to use longer, more expensive routes through Iran, where freight rates have already doubled at the start of the season.
He called on the government to adopt a national citrus strategy, boost R&D and accelerate the shift to modern irrigation systems as water scarcity intensifies.
