Vegetables constitute an integral component of the cropping pattern but the increasing pressure on food and cash crops has limited the area under vegetables to about 0.62 million ha, which is 3.1% of the total cropped area. Vegetables fit well in most farming systems due to shorter maturity period.

Vegetable crops are very important due to their higher yield potential, higher return and high nutritional value and suitability for small land holding farmers. Vegetables provide proteins, minerals and vitamins required for human nutrition. In Pakistan, the daily per capita intake is low, being about 100 grams compared to the recommended consumption of about 285 grams. In view of population increase, land degradation and water scarcity, there is a need to substantially increase vegetable production in the years to come and to attain self-sufficiency as well as to increase the exportable surplus. However, in the past, development efforts in agriculture sector were primarily focused on production and development of cereal crops; in spite of the fact the vegetables provide maximum output per unit area.

More than 35 kinds of vegetables are grown in numerous eco-systems in Pakistan from the dry zone to the wet zone, low elevation to high elevation, rain fed to irrigated and low input to very high input systems such as plastic houses. During summer and spring season, tomato, chilies, brinjal, potato, cucumber, gourds and okra are abundantly available. During rainy season, gourds, cucumber, beans, okra and brinjal are common. The winter season is the most important for growing a wide variety of vegetables including, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, onion, potato, carrot, radish, turnip, coriander, fenugreek and peas. Vegetables produced in different zones by using different production technologies during different seasons are traded across regional markets of Pakistan in order to meet consumer demand across the country. Varied agro-climatic conditions prevailing in different provinces of the country also contribute to year round production of different kinds of vegetables. Thus many vegetables can be grown and seen in the market during any season.

Area and Production

Total area and production of vegetables including potatoes and condiments, averaged about 588 thousand ha and 7612.4 thousand tones, respectively during the past ten years (2002 -12) Table 1. Though subjected to annual variations, overall area and production of vegetables in Pakistan have shown an increasing trend during the past 10 years. Since 2002-03 to 2011-12, the area under vegetable crops including potato and condiments has increased from 520.9 to 611.7 thousand hectares and production has increased from 6454.2 to 8478.8 thousand tonnes.

 

Table 1. Area of vegetables including potato and condiments in Pakistan (2002-03 to 2011-12)

Year	Vegetables (000, ha)	Potatoes (000, ha)	Condiments(000, ha)	Total area(000, ha)
2002-03	224.6	115.8	180.5	520.9
2003-04	236.6	109.7	181.5	527.8
2004-05	238.7	112.0	192.7	543.4
2005-06	246.3	117.5	229.7	593.5
2006-07	245.5	133.4	196.6	575.5
2007-08	253.8	154.3	235.6	643.7
2008-09	252.9	144.9	222.3	620.1
2009-10	249.7	138.5	216.4	604.6
2010-11	251.7	159.4	227.9	639.0
2011-12	253.6	184.9	173.2	611.7
Average (2002-2012)	245.3	137.1	205.6	588.0

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan.

Table  2.  Production of vegetables including potato and condiments in Pakistan (2002-03 to 2011-12)

Year	Vegetables (000, tonnes)	Potatoes (000, tonnes)	Condiments (000, tonnes)	Total production(000, tonnes)
2002-03	2880.3	1946.3	1627.6	6454.2
2003-04	3028.4	1938.1	1643.4	6609.9
2004-05	3048.4	2024.8	1952.2	7025.4
2005-06	3124.8	1567.9	2274.4	6967.1
2006-07	3138.0	2581.6	1988.1	7707.7
2007-08	3136.9	2539.0	2200.0	7875.9
2008-09	3205.5	2941.3	1897.7	8044.5
2009-10	3044.9	3141.4	1951.7	8138.0
2010-11	3112.2	3491.7	2217.7	8821.6
2011-12	3110.6	3392.5	1975.7	8478.8
Average (2002-2012)	3083.0	2556.5	1972.9	7612.4

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan.

Area, production and share of important vegetables in Pakistan

The major vegetable grown in the country are potato, onion, chilies, tomato, turnip, okra carrot, cauliflower peas and tinda gourd covering 78% of the total area under vegetables accounting for 81% of the total production (Table 3). The major share in area and production is of potato which is 30.2% and 40%, respectively followed by onion with respective share of 21.2% and 21.4%.

 

Table 3. Area, production and share of important vegetables in Pakistan (2011-12)

Vegetables	Area (000, hectares)	% Share	Production (000, tonnes)	% Share
Potato	184.9	30.2	3392.5	40.0
Onion	129.7	21.2	1817.4	21.4
Tomato	57.2	9.4	577.8	6.8
Chilies	24.8	4.0	40.4	0.5
Peas	15.8	2.6	105.0	1.2
Turnip	15.7	2.6	275.7	3.3
Okra	13.9	2.3	102.6	1.2
Cauliflower	13.6	2.2	234.4	2.8
Carrot	13.5	2.2	235.9	2.8
Tinda gourd	9.4	1.5	89.1	1.0
Others	133.2	21.8	1608.0	19.0
Total	611.7		8478.8

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2011-12.

Share of provinces

According to the statistical data of the year 2011-12, Punjab claims more than 60% of the total area followed by Sindh (17 %), Baluchistan (13%) and KPK (10 %) (Table 4).  The major share in the production of vegetables including potato and condiments (onion, chilies, turmeric, garlic and coriander) is of Punjab (67%) followed by Baluchistan (13%), Sindh (12%) and KPK (8%). Punjab province has comparatively high shares both in area and production. The contribution of other provinces is significant in making the vegetables available in the market during lean period due to different production seasons.

Table 4. Share of provinces in area and production of vegetables

Province	Area (000, ha)	% Share	Production (000, tonnes)	% Share
Punjab	367.0	60	5653.5	67
Sindh	105.4	17	1044.8	12
KPK	60.5	10	710.5	8
Baluchistan	78.8	13	1070.0	13
Pakistan	611.7		8478.8

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2011-12.

Province wise production share of major vegetables

Potatoes have maximum production of 3392.5 thousand tonnes of which more than 95% comes from Punjab (Table 5). Next to potatoes are onions with total production of 1817.4 thousand tonnes of which 41% come from Sindh, 29% from Baluchistan and 20% from Punjab. Tomatoes are at third position and Baluchistan is the main producing area contributing 38%, followed by Sindh, KPK and Punjab with 25%, 23% and 15% share in total production. The agro-ecological suitability of the southern zone of the country to the production of chilies has resulted in the raising of 59.4% of total production from Sindh. Punjab contributes 21.1% and Baluchistan 18.3%, whereas KPK contributes only 1.2% of the total production. Punjab has the highest share (72%) in production of turnip followed by KPK with more than 15%. Punjab is the main producing area of carrot contributing more than 68% in total production followed by Baluchistan (23%). Out of total production of cauliflower, Punjab contributes more than 68% followed by Baluchistan (17%). Punjab, KPK and Baluchistan, respectively account for 71%, 13% and more than 11% of the production of peas in the country. Punjab contributes more than 57% of total production of okra followed by Baluchistan (16%), KPK (14%) and Sindh with more than (23%). More than 75% production of tinda gourd comes from Punjab.

Vegetables	Punjab production share %	Sindh production share %	KPK production share %	Baluchistan production share %
Potato	95.4	0.1	3.5	1.0
Onion	19.9	41.0	10.1	29.0
Chilies	21.1	59.4	1.2	18.3
Tomato	15.0	24.5	22.5	38.0
Turnip	71.5	6.7	15.4	6.4
Okra	57.3	13.3	13.9	15.5
Carrot	68.4	5.8	3.3	22.5
Cauliflower	68.2	7.5	6.9	17.4
Peas	71.2	4.7	12.8	11.3
Tinda gourd	75.2	6.5	13.5	4.8

Table 5. Province wise production share of major vegetables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2011-12.

 

Yield gap of important vegetables 

Crop yield in Pakistan are low and a substantial gap exists between the potential yields and the yields at the farm level (Table 6). Production can be increased either by bringing more area under crops or by increasing productivity per hectare. The input use level and combinations are different across farms and regions resulting in different yields. Furthermore, there is a wide gap in yields of experimental stations and farmer fields indicating the suboptimal use of inputs.

Table 6. Production and yield gap of important vegetable crops in Pakistan 

Vegetables	National average yield (tonnes/ha)	Average yield at expt. stations* (tonnes/ha)	Production gap (tonnes/ha)	Yield gap (%)
Potato	18.4	29	10.6	58
Onion	14.0	30	16.0	114
Chilies	1.6	4	2.4	145
Tomato	10.1	30	19.9	197
Turnip	17.6	25	7.4	42
Okra	7.4	17	9.6	130
Cauliflower	17.2	30	12.8	74
Peas	6.7	10	3.4	50
Carrot	17.5	30	12.5	72
Tinda gourd	9.5	25	15.5	163
Garlic	8.5	12	3.5	41
Radish	16.2	30	13.8	85
Cucumber	14.3	20	5.7	40

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2011-12

*          Annual reports of experimental stations

 

Specific problems of important vegetables:

 

Specific problems in economically important vegetables are given in Table 7. Yield per hectare can be improved substantially if we overcome production problems.

 

Table 7: Specific problems in vegetables

Vegetables	Specific problems
Potato	Early and late blight, PLRV
Chilies	Phytophthora root rot, viruses, aflatoxin
Onion	Purple blotch, downy mildew, thrips, weed infestation
Tomato	Early blight, viruses, fruit borer, heat tolerance, nematodes, blossom end rot
Peas	Powdery mildew, root rot, leaf miner, pod borer
Cabbage	Head cracking
Okra	Pod borer, yellow vein mosaic virus, jassids
Cauliflower	Heat tolerance
Cucumber	Powdery mildew, downy mildew, cucumber mosaic virus
Brinjal	Shoot and Fruit borer
Tinda gourd	Powdery mildew

 

By adopting suitable cultural methods and controlling the pests and diseases, it is possible to increase the per hectare production considerably. The factors responsible for low yield are:

• Lack of quality seed of high yielding varieties
• Narrow choice of cultivars
• High incidence of pests and diseases
• Enormous weed infestations
• Poor plant densities
• Low use of fertilizers

 

Vegetables exports

Agriculture constitutes the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy. This sector contributes 21.4% to its GDP, provides 40% employment and 60% exports. The horticulture sub-sector (Fruits and vegetables etc.) contributes 11% to the total value addition in agriculture sector. The current national horticulture exports are about 400 million US$ (2011-12). Export of major vegetables is presented in Table 8. Presently Pakistan is mainly exporting vegetables to Afghanistan, Malaysia, Russian Federation, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Potato, onion, chilies, peas, tomato and frozen and dried vegetables are few well exported vegetables. Pakistan must explore markets for other vegetables to avoid relying on only few countries.

Vegetable exports have suffered a significant decrease in 2011-12. The drop in vegetable exports is a consequence of natural disasters, and a change in supply and demand dynamics in foreign markets. Around 279,000 metric tonnes potatoes worth 6872 million rupees were exported during 2011-12 as against 426,000 metric tonnes worth 8492 million rupees during 2010-11. There was a decline of 19% value wise. One of the reasons for the unprecedented hike in potato exports in 2010-11 was the shortage of potatoes in Russia. Pakistan exported 117,000 tonnes of potatoes to Russia in 2010-11. The figure dropped to roughly 20,000 tonnes in 2011-12.  There was a significant drop in onion exports during 2011-12 which came down to about 51,000 tonnes compared with that of 188,000 tonnes during 2010-11. Around 16,000 metric tonnes tomatoes worth 563 million rupees were exported during 2011-12 as against 38,000 metric tonnes worth 1395 million rupees during 2010-11. There was a decline of 60% value wise.  However, export of peas from Pakistan registered an increase of 84% value wise during 2011-12 compared with that of 2010-11. During 2011-12, about 7456 metric tonnes of peas worth 518 million rupees were exported, compared with 5158 metric tonnes worth 281 million rupees during 2010-11.

 

Table 8. Export of major vegetables

Vegetables	Quantity (tonnes) 2010-11	Value (million RS) 2010-11	Quantity (tonnes ) 2011-12	Value (million RS) 2011-12
Potato, fresh & frozen	426014	8492	279313	6872
Onion, fresh & dried	188054	4730	50614	693
Tomatoes	38329	1395	15766	563
Chilies (red), whole & powder	2003	420	822	231
Peas, fresh, frozen & dried	5158	281	7456	518
Other vegetables, frozen & dried	57163	2350	55928	2248

Source: Fruit, vegetable and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2011-12

 Suggestions 

1. Crop improvement and management practices

Produce is not in line with the international standards and internationally demanded varieties. Research organizations should develop varieties that best meet the needs of the global market. Development of varieties rich in nutrients and having resistance against diseases, insect pests, drought, heat and frost will need more emphasis and concerted efforts. Seed of promising varieties of vegetables should be produced to ensure regular supply of true-to-type good quality seed. There is a need for improving and strengthening the seed-producing agencies for better quality seed production and supply. Hybrid seed production at lower cost should be encouraged. Emerging areas of science such as biotechnology, bioengineering and tissue culture should be given due importance in research and multiplication of planting materials. Policy of vegetable research has to be focused on solving chronic production problems through development of disease and pest resistant varieties to fit into various cropping systems in different agro ecological situations. Future strategies in vegetable production must consider increasing demand for export. This has to be supplemented through crop improvement and better management practices that can increase the production to meet domestic requirements and the potential increases in exports.

 

2. Efficient irrigation system

Vegetables in general are heavy users of moisture and draw a large share of irrigation resources. The need for high-yielding, short-duration varieties for water use efficiency is much more than low-yielding ones. Water-saving devices like drip, trickle or sprinkler irrigation should be encouraged for growing different vegetable crops. Rain fed and riverbed vegetable production should be promoted. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research on efficient irrigation system under our climatic conditions and to make these technologies available to farmers.

 

3. Integrated pest management

An increasing awareness and sensitivity to environmental pollution and health hazards due to the excessive use of pesticides has stimulated integrated pest management methods in vegetable production which should be pursued.

 

I) Insect/disease management

Several diseases and insect pests seriously affect vegetable production. Cole crops like cabbage and cauliflower are attacked by diamondback moth, cabbage butterfly, cabbage semi-looper and aphids. Aphids are the main pests on root vegetables. Thrips are important in onion.  Fruit and shoot borer is a widely distributed pest mainly on eggplant (brinjal) and is a very serious one. Red pumpkin beetle is a common pest of cucurbits. Melon fruit fly is active throughout the year in various parts of the country. Spotted boll worm and jassids are serious pests of okra. Tomato fruit borer is quite serious throughout the country. Root knot nematodes seriously affect most vegetables, particularly in light soils, and cause considerable damage. Insecticides dominate in the strategy of vegetable pest management in Pakistan. However, care is required in selecting safe pesticides because residues left on the plants may cause health hazards to people and animals. Integrated management of disease and insect pests in different vegetable crops needs to be developed systematically. Since there is an overuse of hazardous insecticides, research on integrated pest management with minimum use of insecticides has to be undertaken as a priority.

 

II) Weed management

The weed menace in vegetables is worse than for other crops since they are grown mostly on fertile soils with frequent irrigation and heavy manuring. Generally, the summer and rainy season vegetables suffer more due to weeds as compared to winter vegetables. Therefore, research with special emphasis on weed control through organic mean is required.

 

4. Post harvest handling/value addition

Quality is a combination of agronomic practices, variety characteristics, grading, processing and finally packaging. The absence of even a single factor makes the product inferior in quality and thus less acceptable in international markets. Improper handling of the produce results in a reduction of the market value, keeping quality and food value.

Vegetables are highly perishable in nature and have a very limited shelf life. They cannot be stored for a longer period unless they are properly harvested and kept in a temperature-controlled environment (cold storage). Cold storage facilities are not available in the country that results in very high post harvest losses ranging from 25 to 40 per cent depending on the type of vegetable. Internationally accepted standards of processing and packing are required to be established. All vegetables being exported are either unprocessed or have undergone sub-standard processing and packaging. Research on post harvest value addition of different vegetables has to be undertaken. There may be an increased demand for processed vegetables in the coming years. Technology for proper handling, packing, transporting and storing vegetables to preserve quality has to be developed locally or introduced.

Unless the productivity is substantially increased, there will be a shortfall in production to meet domestic requirements. Increasing productivity will not be rewarding unless technologies are developed for processing of vegetables, and the establishment of industries at the village level to generate employment and increase incomes of the rural people. Endeavour should be made to initiate research to develop simple agro-based industries that can be established in farming communities. Post harvest technology development of value-added products needs considerable improvement. There is a demand for both fresh and processed vegetables especially in the Middle East and European markets.

 

5. Effective transfer technology system

Most of the work done by agricultural research organizations has not reached the farmers due to weak extension services and absence of any coordination between the entities. Vegetable growers are generally small-scale, poor and marginal farmers. Therefore, vegetable production technology has to be developed keeping the needs of these farmers in view, while also meeting the requirements of quality and taste of middle-class society who are the major consumers of vegetables. Research to date has stressed development of technology for increasing yield, and has not kept in view the limitations of the growers. The technologies developed cannot research to farmers unless effective transfer technology system is available. Therefore, close contact between research and extension scientists should be established. Extension programs on improved technology of vegetables have to be strengthened. Extension workers need to be fully trained in vegetable production technology. Vegetable production programs should also be linked with other rural development programs.

Regards: @m-arif-khan