Agriproduction Marketing

 

  In Pakistan, vegetables are the integral part of the cropping pattern but occupy only 2-3 % of the total cultivated area. Almost 50 kinds of vegetables, cucumber and tomatoes being one of them, are grown in winter and summer seasons across the country. However, in hilly areas winter vegetable are also grown alongside summer, which are called off-season that fetches high income in the market. Gilgit Baltistan is one of those areas where off-season vegetables can be grown successfully.  Vegetable crops are very important due to its higher yield potential, return and nutritional value and suitability for small land holders. In Pakistan, the daily per capita intake of vegetables is low as about 100 grams compared to the recommended consumption of about 285 grams.               Tomato tunnel crop in Ghizer, GB In the year 2014, a total yield of 20889.64 MT of vegetable (excluding potato) was produced in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) without mentioni...

  Malakand Division is a remote corner of Pakistan, which is situated in the extreme north of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The Division consists of Districts of Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Bunir, Chitral, Shangla, Bajaur and Malakand.  The altitude of the division ranges from 600 - 7854 meters. Agriculture is the bedrock of the division as the population is overwhelmingly dependent on it. The whole division is mountain-locked geographically. A vast number of vegetable crop species, onion being one of them, are grown for subsistence and commercial purposes. The importance of onion crop can be judged from the fact that Malakand division contributed 92.21 % (145068 tons) to the total provincial production and 89.09% (7872 hectares) to the total area planted in the year 2011-12.  Although, onion is important commercially for the farmers of this area but they face some chronic problems like non-availability of good quality seed, prevalence of insect pests and diseases and...

High quality seed is the basic requirement of crop improvement in general and in vegetables in particular. But at the moment, coherent public and private sectors efforts are lacking for developing a reliable seed production and supply chain systems. If vegetable seed production process could gain popularity in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country, it will increase the income of seed growers, generate new employment opportunities and thus ultimately reduce poverty.   In addition to meeting vegetable seed requirements within the country, there are market opportunities abroad also. A large number of farmers produce vegetable seed for their own use, which is usually impure, rapidly loses viability due to inappropriate packing and may be infested with seed borne problems. However, serious efforts are required to be made to estimate and report the quantities of vegetable seed being produced by the private sector.     Pakistan has high potential for vegetable cultiv...

  Introduction:  The tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) belongs to the night shade (solanaceae) family. It is a native of Mexico and was called as tomati. It is believed that from Mexico, tomato found its way to Europe and then to Asia. Tomato is universally a popular vegetable. It can be eaten in fresh or processed form. Tomato is a good source of vitamin A and C, which can help alleviate these deficiencies in the human body. In Pakistan, it is one of the leading and popular vegetables grown. It is used in many forms; fresh as salad and cooked almost with every dish to add taste.   It is cultivated throughout the country. This crop fits in most crop rotations. Cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, pear tomatoes, and beefsteak tomatoes are all from the same family. They differ by the shape but also by the color. We can find them red, yellow or orange. Climate: Tomato is a frost susceptible crop and loves warm season to grow. Tomato thrives under a wide range of environmenta...

Tomato ( Lycopersican esculentum ) belongs to solanaceae family. It is native to Mexico and was called tomati. Being a popular vegetable universally, tomato is a frost susceptible crop and loves warm season to grow. The crop grows under a wide range of environmental conditions but needs plenty of sunshine, comparatively cool nights with 15 -20  temperature. It requires warm days with temperature range of 25  30  for optimum production. Tomatoes do not set fruits when average night and day temperature exceeds 25 - 35  respectively. This crop is grown from sea level to snow line as one of the leading and popular vegetables in Pakistan. In 2010-11, tomato crop was planted on 52300 hectares land, which gave 529600 tons production (Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan, 210-11).  It is eaten in fresh, cooked and processed form in the world. In Pakistan, it is cooked with almost every dish in the kitchen ...

  Introduction: Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ), native of South Asia , belongs to cucurbitaceae family. Its cultivation goes back at lease 3000 years in India and 2000 years in China . Early travelers brought cucumber to Mediterranean countries 3000 to 4000 years ago. Cucumber plants were cultivated in UK in early fourteenth century, where the fruits were known as cow cumbers. In agriculture changes have been widespread in land use and cropping systems. Land is now being used less for subsistence production and more for marketable crops. In cropping systems, the switch-over is from labour-intensive staples to high pay-off vegetables crops, which have been emerging as field activity with fairly extensive development and financial potentials in most of the areas in Pakistan. Cucumber is a popular vegetable all over the world. It is eaten in fresh and cooked forms. In Pakistan , it is mostly eaten fresh as salad with meal. It is cultivated through out the country as normal season ...