On Friday, a state-of-the-art cold storage facility for vegetable exporters was inaugurated to help increase shelf life, reduce losses from spoilage and improve overall quality of the relevant products. The facility was established by US-Pakistan Partnerships for Agricultural Market Development (AMD) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) mainly involves private sector investors belonging to Pakistan.
Consul General Joanne Wagner on the occasion said that AMD project was working to strengthen the high-value and off-season vegetable sector in Pakistan by partnering with private sector investors. The support was said to have already helped upgrade seven centralized grading, packing and cold storage hubs in Sindh and Punjab: “Such centralized hubs are necessary for overcoming the constraints facing the vegetable sector in Pakistan, including lack of post-harvest handling facilities for grading, sorting, and packaging.”
The US Consul General, Karachi, said this particular partnership acts as a catalyst for development and investment in the target product lines, helps improve the quality and increase the quantity of exportable agricultural produce, and promotes cooperation among farmers, processors, exporters, and buyers of Pakistani agricultural products in international markets. This was resulting in increased income and generating employment opportunities for the citizens of the country, she told pakobserver.net.