General Articles

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Citrus Fruit (Kino): Punjab

produced 98% of production
by Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed Memon, Dean KASBIT.

Agriculture sector is a vital component of

Pakistan’s economy as it provides the raw
materials to down the line industries and
helps in poverty alleviation. This sector con-
tributed 19.8% in GDP and it remains by far
the largest employer absorbing 42.3% of the
country’s total labour force.
The citrus fruit ranks at the top in pro-
duction and trade among all fruits produced
the world over. It is highly prized and remu-
nerative fruit, cultivated almost all over the
world. Brazil is the biggest citrus fruit produc-
tion country in the world. World most of the production of 2.36 million tonns in 2015-16. world. Its juice contest 44% to 47.5% which
oranges production is in Brazil and citrus is Citrus is divided into different groups Sweet is the highest for all easy peelers varieties.
rich in orange. oranges, Mandarin, Grape fruit, Lemon and The sugar content is 12 – 13% and each
Lime which are being grown commercially. 100ml of kino contains 20-25 mg of vita-
Production Citrus fruit is grown in all four provinces of mins-C.
Pakistan but Punjab produces over 98% of Pakistan produced Kino 80% more than
Citrus fruit (mandarins, Clementine &
the crop because of its greater popuation, other Citrus fruit and application of modern
oranges) is the most important tree fruit crop
favorable growing conditions and adequate techniques at all stages of growth and during
in the world. It is consumed direct as a fruit
water. the post-harvest phase could not only add
as well as juice (fresh & concentrates). Citrus
fruits include oranges, mandarins (Kino), More than 98% of citrus fruit is pro- value to the fruit to attract premium price
grapefruit and lemons, of which mandarins duced in Punjab and 70% of it is under kino. but also increase export volume to fetch
(Kino) is of significance to Pakistan. Kino is a In fact kino has monopolised the citrus farm- much needed foreign exchange to the coun-
cross between ‘King’ ‘Willow leaf’ species of ing in the country. try.
Citrus Fruit, successfully experimented at the Major citrus growing areas in Pakistan: Citrus cultivars are grown in varying
Citrus Research Centre, University of quantities in countries with tropical or sub-
California, USA in 1951. Both of these par- Pakistan has several varieties of citrus tropical climate. Citrus stands first in area and
ents have Indo-China origins. The soil and fruit, in addition to the popularity known as production among the worlds tree fruits. In
climatic conditions in Pakistan have given Kino all of which may interest importers in Pakistan also, citrus fruits are the most
‘Kino’ a unique flavor which distinguishes it Asia and Europe. Kino is rightly called the important fruit crops grown on the area of
from other comparable cultivars (mandarins) king of all the varieties of easy peelers and 206,569 hectares with production of 2.5 mil-
grown in the World. excels the best varieties of the world. lion tonnes. Citrus fruit is grown in all four
Currently, in Pakistan citrus fruits are Pakistan is the 12th largest producer of citrus provinces of Pakistan but Punjab produces
grown on an area of 206,569 hectares with and the largest producer of Kino in the over 98% of the crop because of its greater

Production of Citrus Fruits Area under Citrus Fruits

Year Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan Total Year Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan Total
2010-11 1,912,039 30,900 32,295 6,957 1,982,191 2010-11 184,227 4,908 2,823 1,376 193,334
2011-12 2,076,831 30,943 32,587 6,979 2,147,340 2011-12 183,568 4,917 2,940 1,421 192,846
2012-13 1,930,082 31,394 33,289 6,920 2,001,685 2012-13 183,296 5,140 1,970 1,395 191,801
2013-14 2,097,734 30,883 31,631 7,471 2,167,719 2013-14 183,216 5,100 2,989 1,396 192,701
2014-15 2,328,090 29,688 30,871 6,921 2,395,570 2014-15 182,558 4,930 3,147 1,504 192,139
2015-16 2,315,895 3,125 31,259 7,350 2,357,629 2015-16 183,210 4,980 3,198 15,181 206,569
Source: Fruit, Vegetables and Commodities of Pakistan. Source: Fruit, Vegetables and Commodities of Pakistan.

January - February 2017 29

 General Articles
Exclusive on Kino

population, favorable growing conditions During the year 2015-16

Country-wise Exports of Kino (Fresh)
and adequate water. Citrus is divided into Kino exported from
different groups Sweet oranges, Mandarine, Pakistan was 372,160
Quantity: Tonnes
Grape fruit, Lemon and Lime which are tonnes worth Rs.17.78
Value: Rs. 000
being grown commercially. billion (US $70.58 mil- 2015-16 2014-15
Country
Area under different varieties indicates lion). Major international Quantity Value Quantity Value
that about 86% of the citrus is covered by markets for Pakistani Afghanistan 144,151 5,798,413 151,820 6,049,537
Kino variety followed by the Musambi Kino’s during 2015-16 Azerbaijan 370 18,248 -- --
(10%), Feutral (4%) Blood Red (1%). The were Afghanistan, Indonesia 21,195 1,125,333 19,253 872,842
harvesting season lasts for 4 months, starting Azerbaijan, Indonesia, kuwait 5,695 251,426 9,049 341,640
from mid-December to mid of April. Mauritius, Oman and Mauritius 1,179 66,546 1,134 58,012
However, according to a rough estimate of Philippines). Oman 4,715 208,989 6,264 199,997
industry, aproximately 20% - 40% of the In the ethnic seg- Philippines 16,811 88,0945 12,292 52,029
produce is wasted during pre & post- harvest ment, Kino supplies are Qatar 2,394 112,813 1,592 62,617
stages. Mismanagement of diseases, unfa- intermittent. As the Kino Russia 98,141 5,843,293 96,366 5,656,217
vorable weather, delay in harvesting, has to be marine-shipped Saudi Arabia 11,437 504,171 9,278 321,727
absence of proper roads and cold storage in container-loads, Turkey 6,265 260,687 5,645 197,634
facilities, glut formation in the market and importers usually take U.A.E 46,797 2,015,552 57,984 19,774
other similar factors are responsible for this chances with only one or Banglades 1,796 81,813 1,912 66,589
loss. two shipments during the All others 11,214 613,617 20,721 3,487,341
Improving the yield of citrus in terms of entire season. They are Total 372,160 17,781,846 393,310 17,385,956
quantity as well as quality, with the ever-lim- risk-averse and hesitate Source: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan
iting resource of cultivated land, is very to place consecutive
important to meet the needs of the increas- orders with a gap of 1-2 weeks before evalu- Gujranwala, Sialkot, Mianwali
ating the response to their first container SINDH: Districts of Sukkur, Nawabshah,
ing population as well as export.
shipment. Khairpur
In the mainstream market segment, the KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: Peshawar,
Pakistani Kino has to compete with seedless As Food safety is the prime concern in
Mardan, Swat, Hazzara, Nowshera, Swabi
mandarin and clementine from Spain, the European market. Food products must
BALOCHISTAN: Sibbi, Makran, Kech.
Morocco, Argentina and South Africa. comply with stringent sanitary and phy-
Citrus are the fruits belonging to the
Though smaller in average size and harder to tosanitary (SPS) requirements. The European
consumer is quite demanding regarding the Rutacease family and mostly from the genus
peel, mandarins from competitors are claim-
taste, quality and presentation of food prod- Citrus which are usually mix of sweet and
ing a larger market share because of being
ucts. The consistency of fruits in terms of acidic fruits. They are widely cultivated fruits
seedless. In the European market, Pakistani
size, shape, weight, colour and level of in the world with areas under cultivation and
citrus has an insignificant 0.09% share. As a
ripeness are important parameters for con- production increasing greatly from 2010-
table fruit, Pakistani Kino’s availability in the
sumers in making their buying decisions. 2016.
European market is irregular. Kino is mainly
used as a raw material for juice by a few big Citrus cultivars are grown in varying There is a huge demand from both the
companies in Europe, but it is not consis- quantities in countries with tropical or sub- fresh and processed oranges by the con-
tently imported as a table fruit. tropical climate. Citrus stands first in area and sumer. Food exports are also linked with
production among the world’s tree fruits. In food tastes, which are deeply cultural in
The country is exporting only 10% of its
nature. The export of food ‘taste’ has to pre-
total Kino production which can be increased Pakistan also, citrus fruits are the most
important fruit crops grown in Pakistan. cede the export of the food ‘product’ itself.
thrice the existing export volume provided
Pakistani food products sold abroad are
farmers adopt scientific methods from Citrus fruit is grown in all four provinces
mainly consumed by South Asian communi-
growth to post harvest stages. of Pakistan but Punjab produces over 95%
ties, and the volume of these exports to a
The export figures for these fruits are of the crop because of its greater population,
country is directly proportional to the size of
increasing every year with leaps and bounds. favourable growing conditions and adequate the ethnic community there.
water. Citrus is divided into dif-
For entry into the mainstream segment
Export of Kino Fresh and Oranges ferent groups Sweet oranges,
of the EU market, ‘taste development’ has to
Value: US$ 000 Mandarine, Grape fruit, Lemon
and Lime which are being be the fundamental element of the strategy
Country Kino Fresh Oranges Total to promote Kino.
grown commercially. Major
2013-14 152,257 1,026 153,283 Unless seedless Kino is available in com-
Kino (Citrus) growing areas in
2014-15 171,827 130 171,957 Pakistan are as under: mercial quantities, a ‘pull marketing’ strategy
2015-16 170,581 486 171,067 PUNJAB: Districts of Sargodha, at the shelf-level is required to develop con-
Source: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Jhang, Sahiwal, Lahore, Multan, sumers’ tastes to such a level that they are

30
January - February 2017
 Exclusive
General Articles
on Kino

ready to accept seeds in a Kino that has a

superior taste.
For taste development, an extensive
campaign of tasting arrangements and free
sampling at points of sale would be required.
Such a campaign at a small scale is being
organised by Pakistan’s Trade Office in the
Netherlands for the last four years, but it
needs to be substantially broadened.
The disadvantage of seeds can also be
offset by positioning Kino as a ‘juicy man-
darin,’ instead of a ‘table fruit’ in the main-
stream European market. Citrus press filters
seeds at the squeezing stage and thus the
consumer is spared the annoyance of spit-
ting the pits at the consumption point. would attract the European markets. Once The citrus production in future must
Currently, orange varieties in the EU are the seedless variety starts bringing fruits, it make more efficient use of limited area of
already categorised into ‘table oranges’ and will help generate precious and much good land provision, for more rapid recovery
‘juicy oranges’. A similar distinction can be needed foreign exchange for the country, as of investment capital, in order to provide
made between table mandarins and juicy it will attract the attention of western mar- maximum average net return. The tree spac-
mandarins. kets where people otherwise don’t prefer ing has become an increasingly important
In the ethnic market segment, the avail- ‘kinos’ due to seeds. consideration in citrus rootstock manage-
ability of Kino needs to be increased. At present, the ‘kino’ exports of the ment also because of the benefits of higher
Currently, supplies are intermittent, and a country are mainly consumed by Pakistani tree density on early production and financial
regular demand-supply pattern is not estab- immigrants living abroad and the seedless returns.
lished. Pakistan’s Trade Offices in European variety would make it famous among the The grower can get earlier return on
countries can help overcome this problem by locals there also. ‘Kino’ is a major export item investment; better spray coverage at less
coordinating with importers to stagger their among citrus types; however, its export cost, easy harvesting and return to fulfill pro-
shipments during the entire season. share in the world market is as low. duction sooner after tree damage or removal
The process after going through various by high-density plantation.
Fruit Plant Certification
developments and modifications ultimately References
culminated in producing a seedless mandarin i. FSC&RD has registered six (6) new fruit
plant nurseries (Gilgit, Chakwal, 1. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
type. These seedless mandarin varieties are Abbottabad, Haripur to promote pro- 2. Trade Development Authority of
being multiplied for further distribution duction and dissemination of disease free Pakistan
among the farmers and expressed the hope and true-to-type nursery fruit plants. 3. Ministry of Commerce, Government of
that production would start from 2011. The ii. Registration cases of two fruit plant nurs- Pakistan.
production of seedless ‘kino’ varieties, the eries are in progress. 4. Fruit, Vegetables and Commodities of
iii. The number of fruit plants certified in the Pakistan.
country’s exports would be multiplied and it above mentioned
tenure is 12,400.
Top 10 Largest Citrus Producing iv. Arrangements are
Country-wise Exports of Oranges
Countries in the World under way to carry out Quantity: Tonnes
sampling and virus Value: Rs. 000
Production indexing of the fruit
Rank Country 2015-16 2014-15
(Tonnes) plan Germplasm Units
Country
1 Brazil 20,682,736 (GPUs). Quantity Value Quantity Value
v. Minimum Fruit Plant Afghanistan 337 17,712 208 9,812
2 China 19,617,527
Certification Standards
3 U.S.A 10,017,652 for citrus, mango and Bahrain 198 8,323 -- --
4 Mexico 6,851,407 guava are drafted and Ukarine 157 7,517 104 3,386
5 India 6,286,257 submitted to National U.A.E 79 4,494 -- --
6 Spain 5,703,453 Seed Council for
Russia 47 2,198 -- --
7 Iran 3,739,056 approval.
vi. Minimum Fruit Plant Saudi Arabia 47 2,198 -- --
8 Italy 3,579,263
Certification Standards Sir Lanka 95 3,755 -- --
9 Nigeria 3,325,958 for grapes, olive and All others 37 2,350 -- --
10 Turkey 3,102,485 palm are being
drafted. Total 997 48,547 312 13,198
Source: Trade Development Authority of
Pakistan Source: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan

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