By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (INP-WealthPK): Though fig cultivation covers over 875,000 hectares in Pakistan, yielding 7.2 million tonnes of fruit per annum, the average output is 8.23 tonnes per hectare, which is quite low when compared to 20-25 tonnes per hectare in other countries. Fig, also known as Anjeer, is a member of the mulberry family Moraceae and is botanically known as Ficus carica. The fig tree’s origins can be traced back to the Mediterranean and western Asia. The world's top fig producers are Turkey, Syria, Greece, Spain, Iran, China and Mexico. The fig plant can be found in a wide range of climates, from tropical to subtropical, and thrives on loamy and light sandy soil with good drainage. Different propagation methods for producing fig plants have been identified, such as budding, grafting, and layering, however stem cutting is the most dependable and rapid one. Mostly, the fig trees with dark purple or almost black-coloured fruit, grow in the wild in Pakistan, especially in Gilgit-Baltistan and hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The fruit is also cultivated on a modest scale in some areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab. After exporting the fruit, the country is often left with not enough quantities to meet the local demand, so it has to import the fruit from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Central Asian Republics. Pakistan's major export market for the organic and luscious dried figs is the United States. To reduce the imports and meet the local demand in different fruits, including figs, the government has started a project named ‘promotion of fruit crop production through provision of true-to-type/certified plants’. This project is being implemented in line with the prime minister’s vision to improve the productivity and profitability of fruit crops, as well as the socioeconomic status of fruit growers. It considers replacing the old, diseased, unproductive and unprofitable fruit orchards with true-to-type, disease-free, clean and certified fruit plants for increased production. The programme also focuses on food security management in a holistic manner, introducing innovative technologies to improve vertical and horizontal crop productivity, ensuring better support prices and diversified agriculture for farmers, ensuring quality and purity of farm inputs to help improve the farming community’s living standards. The country will be able to achieve both the domestic demand of fig and the export target if the project is implemented in letter and spirit. In 2020, Pakistan exported $162 million worth of product group 0804 "dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes and mangos teens, fresh or dried." This is shown in the following statistics provided by the Trend Economy, with the share of figs (dried and fresh) standing at 0.283% around 459,000 US dollars. The best time to do fig plantation is from December/January through to the end of March, especially in the hilly and mountainous areas. The size of the young tree being planted determines the width and depth of each planting hole. Adding a support after the tree has been planted can cause serious damage to the tree's roots.