Pakistan's Horticulture and Export Company (PHDEC) has revealed that its export target for kinnows during the 2010/11 season has been set at 300,000 tonnes, up on the previous year's exports of 250,000 tonnes.

The new target was set during a meeting between the PHDEC, exporters and other stakeholders at Bhalwal, the Business Recorder reported.

The PHDEC opted increase the export target despite a forecast 10-15 per cent drop in production during 2010/11 on last year's 2.1m boxes of fruit, although fruit size is expected to be larger during the upcoming campaign.

Major markets for Pakistani kinnows during 2009/10 included Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Philippines, the Netherlands, Kuwait, Indonesia and other Eastern European nations.

Kashif Niazi, marketing manager at PHDEC, told the Business Recorder that Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia and Lithuania could all prove good markets for exports in the future.