Pakistan to boost potato industry with Chinese Expertise, says Commercial Counselor

BEIJING, March 28 (APP): Commercial Counselor of the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, Badar Uz Zaman on Monday said that Pakistan is one of the largest potato producers in the world and its production will be increased though Chinese modern technology, high quality seeds to grab the Chinese market.

“The local consumption is around 4 to 5 million tons. We will have a good surplus quantity to export to regional countries. We have also taken up the issue with the Chinese government. In Pakistan, we are introducing machinery from China to many processing plants. The prices of the fries and preserved well-shelf potatoes are extremely high compared with the potato on the farm. So, we need to improve the whole process”, Badar UZ Zaman told China Economic Net (CEN).

He further said that China has achieved a very high yield per hectare due to its high-yielding varieties of seeds and efficiency. Post-harvest processing in China is also impressive as the country uses machinery and the process is highly mechanised. Similar things if introduced in Pakistan will help Pakistan take potato production a step further.

“We are using archaic methods and too much labour is involved as the processes are manual. The main issue is the lack of mechanisation. We also need cold storage to increase the shelf life but we lack the grading machinery”, Badar stated.