The Pakistan government has introduced two new strawberry varieties from the US designed to boost exports of the fruit in the next several years.
The varieties ‘Sweet Charlie’ and ‘Festival’ have been planted over one acre (0.4ha) in the Khairpur district in Sindh, the first time either has been grown in Pakistan.
The young strawberry plants are expected to bear fruit from late January through until March, reported Pakistan’s Daily Times.
The plan is to target markets that import strawberries during their winter months, such as those in Central Asia, the Persian Gulf and Russia.
Strawberries are hugely popular in Pakistan, and are grown extensively between February and April for sale in domestic markets.
