Product Description
The product that I am proposing Canada export to Nepal is Canadian pumpkin seed of the Howden variety. The Howden variety of pumpkin is a very versatile pumpkin variety, and commercially can be used for everything from Halloween decorations to baking. Size wise this variety of pumpkin plant fully grown weights in at about 25 pounds, or 11 kilograms (Stokes Seeds, 2014). The fruit itself is tolerant to the common pumpkin disease black rot, and is known for its ridged orange skin and thick flesh, which is high in vitamin A. In terms of the seed, it does not contain any neonicotinoids and is in no way genetically modified (Stokes Seeds, 2014). The time period from when the farmer would sow the seeds to when the plants are ready for harvest is typically about 115 days. Pumpkins need to be planted with lots of space for their sprawling, long vines to grow. They also love sunlight so it is extremely important that they be planted in an area in that gets lots of sunlight (The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 2014).
At the ends of their long vines this variety of pumpkin plant grows large, broad green leaves. These leaves have weed suppression properties, and these weed suppression properties would benefit Nepal. By planting Howden pumpkins among other crops, such as maize, the vines of the pumpkin plants would grow into the maize and the leaves on the pumpkin vines would reduce the amount of light that is available to the weeds below. Essentially by reducing the amount of sunlight available to the weeds they are no longer able to photosynthesize, this would reduce their food production, which would ultimately cause them to die. In conclusion planting pumpkins beside maize cultivars would mean the pumpkin plants would grow into the maize crop, and from there the pumpkin plants’ leaves would reduce the number of weeds in the cultivar by reducing the amount of sunlight available to the weeds (Li, Tilman, Lambers, & Zhang, 2014).
Producers
After doing some extensive of research I feel that the best Canadian Company to source these Howden variety Pumpkin seeds from is Stokes Seeds Ltd. Table 1. below compares Stokes Seeds Ltd. to two other Canadian companies that produce and market Howden variety pumpkin seeds. Stokes Seeds Ltd. is a Canadian company that was founded in 1881 and is based out of Thorold, Ontario. Stokes Seeds Ltd. produce and market hundreds of vegetables, and flower seeds to consumers all across the globe. Stokes currently employs a hundred plus Canadian employees, most of whom live within the Thorold area (Stokes Seeds, 2014). I feel that sourcing these seeds from Stokes Seeds Ltd. makes the most sense because they are already a major player on the global vegetable seed market, and are well established within the industry. Stokes Seeds Ltd. source the Howden Variety of pumpkin seeds from America, but due to legal obligations on their end, they were not allowed to disclose where in America the seeds come from (D. Confidential, personal communication, 2014). In the Stokes Seeds online catalog the Howden variety of pumpkin is numbers as 247H. Donna, who has asked her last name be kept confidential, is a sales rep at Stokes Seeds and would be happy to answer anymore question that may arise. She can be reached at 1-905-688-4300 (Stokes Seeds, 2014).
Health and Nutritional Information
Pumpkin seeds are rich in many essential nutrients and vitamins that the human body needs to function (World Health Organization, 2014). A few of the main and most abundant nutrients found in pumpkin seeds are zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin A. The World Health Organization reports that pumpkin seeds are one of the best ways to obtain the three above nutrients (World Health Organization, 2014). Besides providing from a way to obtain essential vitamin and minerals pumpkin seeds also have a few health benefits. Pumpkin seeds are great for antioxidant support because they contain tocopherol-gamma. Tocopherol-gamma is a very strong lipid soluble antioxidant that has properties that help preserve mucus membranes and skin by shielding them from oxygen free radicals (Stevenson et al., 2007). Another great health benefit of pumpkin seeds is that the kernels of the seeds are high in mono unsaturated fats that help the body regulate and control LDL (good) and HDL (bad) cholesterol levels in the blood. This property of the seeds can help prevent and reduce the chances of heart attack or stroke because by helping control cholesterol levels they help maintain healthy blood vessels in the circulatory system (Stevenson et al., 2007). Research is currently being done that shows that at a cellular level pumpkin seeds contain DHEA (Di-hydro-epi-androstenedione), which is a hormone that performs blocking actions towards cell receptors in the human prostate and ovaries. This means that scientists believe that pumpkin seeds have properties that reduce the risk of ovarian and prostate cancer in men and women (Xanthopoulou, 2009).
Market Opportunities
The market in Nepal for Howden variety pumpkin seeds would be considered a niche market because it is a product that would be only of interest to the agricultural industry. But with saying that as mentioned above over 80% of Nepalese people are involved in the agriculture industry, so it does have the potential to benefit a large population in Nepal (US Agency for International Development, 2014). Pumpkin seeds would be considered a niche product because it would only be of interest to farmers. Farmers would use this product to practice intercropping. Intercropping is when a producer grows two or more crops in the same space. The best type of intercropping is when the two crops have a mutually beneficial relationship that is a result of growing in the same area (Vandermeer JH, 1992). Overall I feel that the Howden variety pumpkin seeds in Nepal would be considered a niche product within the agricultural industry, which account for majority of the Nepalese population.
Benefits to Canada
There are many different ways that Canada would benefit from exporting Howden variety pumpkin seeds to Nepal. The most obvious and main benefit of exporting these seeds to Nepal from Canada is the economic boost that Canada would experience. Sending these seeds overseas would increase revenue being brought into Canada, which would overall give Canada an economic boost. This is especially true in the Southern Ontario region where Stokes is located because that is where the revenue would be brought directly into.
Also, because Stokes Seeds Ltd. imports the seeds from America it could potentially increase the amount of seeds of being imported from the states into Canada. This could strengthen the trade relationship between America and Canada. Another benefit of this export would be that as Stokes Seeds gets busier from the increase in business they would have to increase their number of staff. This means that potentially a benefit from this export could be the creation of new jobs for Canadians both directly at Stokes Seeds, and indirectly with middleman companies. For example Canadian shipping companies may have to increase staff to both bring the product into Canada from America, and to ship it to Nepal.
Besides increasing and strengthening the trade relationship between Canada and America, exporting this product to Nepal could also have other benefits for Canada on the international scale. This export would increase, and create new trading relationships with Nepal, which could be extremely beneficial to Canada. By expanding its export horizon to Nepal, Canada would become a bigger player on the international trade playing field. Overall, exporting pumpkin seeds from Canada to Nepal would have many benefits to Canada, the main ones being the economic boost, the creation of new jobs in Canada, and the expanding of Canada’s international trade market.
Sources
Stevenson, DG., Eller, EJ., Wang, L., Jane, JL., Wang, T., and Inglett, GE. (2007). Oil and tocopherol content and composition of pumpkin seed oil in 12 cultivars. Journal of Agriculture and Food Science, 55(10), 4005-4013.
Stokes Seeds Canada. (2014). Contact/About us. Retrieved from <http://www.stokeseeds.com/pages/contact/>
The Old Farmer's Almanac. (2014). Pumpkins: Planting, growing, and harvesting pumpkin plants. Retrieved from <http://www.almanac.com/plant/pumpkins/>
US Agency for International Development. (2014). AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY: Nepal. Retrieved from <http://www.usaid.gov/nepal/agriculture-and-food-security/>
Vandermeer, J. (1992). The ecology of intercropping. Cambridge University Press, 1(32), 2-6.
World Health Organization. (2013). What's new and beneficial about pumpkin seeds. Retrieved from <http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=82/>
Xanthopoulou, MN., Nomikos T., Fragopoulou, E., and Antonopoulou, s. (2009). Antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities of pumpkin seed extracts. Food Research International, 42(5), 641-646.
The product that I am proposing Canada export to Nepal is Canadian pumpkin seed of the Howden variety. The Howden variety of pumpkin is a very versatile pumpkin variety, and commercially can be used for everything from Halloween decorations to baking. Size wise this variety of pumpkin plant fully grown weights in at about 25 pounds, or 11 kilograms (Stokes Seeds, 2014). The fruit itself is tolerant to the common pumpkin disease black rot, and is known for its ridged orange skin and thick flesh, which is high in vitamin A. In terms of the seed, it does not contain any neonicotinoids and is in no way genetically modified (Stokes Seeds, 2014). The time period from when the farmer would sow the seeds to when the plants are ready for harvest is typically about 115 days. Pumpkins need to be planted with lots of space for their sprawling, long vines to grow. They also love sunlight so it is extremely important that they be planted in an area in that gets lots of sunlight (The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 2014).
At the ends of their long vines this variety of pumpkin plant grows large, broad green leaves. These leaves have weed suppression properties, and these weed suppression properties would benefit Nepal. By planting Howden pumpkins among other crops, such as maize, the vines of the pumpkin plants would grow into the maize and the leaves on the pumpkin vines would reduce the amount of light that is available to the weeds below. Essentially by reducing the amount of sunlight available to the weeds they are no longer able to photosynthesize, this would reduce their food production, which would ultimately cause them to die. In conclusion planting pumpkins beside maize cultivars would mean the pumpkin plants would grow into the maize crop, and from there the pumpkin plants’ leaves would reduce the number of weeds in the cultivar by reducing the amount of sunlight available to the weeds (Li, Tilman, Lambers, & Zhang, 2014).
Producers
After doing some extensive of research I feel that the best Canadian Company to source these Howden variety Pumpkin seeds from is Stokes Seeds Ltd. Table 1. below compares Stokes Seeds Ltd. to two other Canadian companies that produce and market Howden variety pumpkin seeds. Stokes Seeds Ltd. is a Canadian company that was founded in 1881 and is based out of Thorold, Ontario. Stokes Seeds Ltd. produce and market hundreds of vegetables, and flower seeds to consumers all across the globe. Stokes currently employs a hundred plus Canadian employees, most of whom live within the Thorold area (Stokes Seeds, 2014). I feel that sourcing these seeds from Stokes Seeds Ltd. makes the most sense because they are already a major player on the global vegetable seed market, and are well established within the industry. Stokes Seeds Ltd. source the Howden Variety of pumpkin seeds from America, but due to legal obligations on their end, they were not allowed to disclose where in America the seeds come from (D. Confidential, personal communication, 2014). In the Stokes Seeds online catalog the Howden variety of pumpkin is numbers as 247H. Donna, who has asked her last name be kept confidential, is a sales rep at Stokes Seeds and would be happy to answer anymore question that may arise. She can be reached at 1-905-688-4300 (Stokes Seeds, 2014).
Health and Nutritional Information
Pumpkin seeds are rich in many essential nutrients and vitamins that the human body needs to function (World Health Organization, 2014). A few of the main and most abundant nutrients found in pumpkin seeds are zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin A. The World Health Organization reports that pumpkin seeds are one of the best ways to obtain the three above nutrients (World Health Organization, 2014). Besides providing from a way to obtain essential vitamin and minerals pumpkin seeds also have a few health benefits. Pumpkin seeds are great for antioxidant support because they contain tocopherol-gamma. Tocopherol-gamma is a very strong lipid soluble antioxidant that has properties that help preserve mucus membranes and skin by shielding them from oxygen free radicals (Stevenson et al., 2007). Another great health benefit of pumpkin seeds is that the kernels of the seeds are high in mono unsaturated fats that help the body regulate and control LDL (good) and HDL (bad) cholesterol levels in the blood. This property of the seeds can help prevent and reduce the chances of heart attack or stroke because by helping control cholesterol levels they help maintain healthy blood vessels in the circulatory system (Stevenson et al., 2007). Research is currently being done that shows that at a cellular level pumpkin seeds contain DHEA (Di-hydro-epi-androstenedione), which is a hormone that performs blocking actions towards cell receptors in the human prostate and ovaries. This means that scientists believe that pumpkin seeds have properties that reduce the risk of ovarian and prostate cancer in men and women (Xanthopoulou, 2009).
Market Opportunities
The market in Nepal for Howden variety pumpkin seeds would be considered a niche market because it is a product that would be only of interest to the agricultural industry. But with saying that as mentioned above over 80% of Nepalese people are involved in the agriculture industry, so it does have the potential to benefit a large population in Nepal (US Agency for International Development, 2014). Pumpkin seeds would be considered a niche product because it would only be of interest to farmers. Farmers would use this product to practice intercropping. Intercropping is when a producer grows two or more crops in the same space. The best type of intercropping is when the two crops have a mutually beneficial relationship that is a result of growing in the same area (Vandermeer JH, 1992). Overall I feel that the Howden variety pumpkin seeds in Nepal would be considered a niche product within the agricultural industry, which account for majority of the Nepalese population.
Benefits to Canada
There are many different ways that Canada would benefit from exporting Howden variety pumpkin seeds to Nepal. The most obvious and main benefit of exporting these seeds to Nepal from Canada is the economic boost that Canada would experience. Sending these seeds overseas would increase revenue being brought into Canada, which would overall give Canada an economic boost. This is especially true in the Southern Ontario region where Stokes is located because that is where the revenue would be brought directly into.
Also, because Stokes Seeds Ltd. imports the seeds from America it could potentially increase the amount of seeds of being imported from the states into Canada. This could strengthen the trade relationship between America and Canada. Another benefit of this export would be that as Stokes Seeds gets busier from the increase in business they would have to increase their number of staff. This means that potentially a benefit from this export could be the creation of new jobs for Canadians both directly at Stokes Seeds, and indirectly with middleman companies. For example Canadian shipping companies may have to increase staff to both bring the product into Canada from America, and to ship it to Nepal.
Besides increasing and strengthening the trade relationship between Canada and America, exporting this product to Nepal could also have other benefits for Canada on the international scale. This export would increase, and create new trading relationships with Nepal, which could be extremely beneficial to Canada. By expanding its export horizon to Nepal, Canada would become a bigger player on the international trade playing field. Overall, exporting pumpkin seeds from Canada to Nepal would have many benefits to Canada, the main ones being the economic boost, the creation of new jobs in Canada, and the expanding of Canada’s international trade market.
Sources
Stevenson, DG., Eller, EJ., Wang, L., Jane, JL., Wang, T., and Inglett, GE. (2007). Oil and tocopherol content and composition of pumpkin seed oil in 12 cultivars. Journal of Agriculture and Food Science, 55(10), 4005-4013.
Stokes Seeds Canada. (2014). Contact/About us. Retrieved from <http://www.stokeseeds.com/pages/contact/>
The Old Farmer's Almanac. (2014). Pumpkins: Planting, growing, and harvesting pumpkin plants. Retrieved from <http://www.almanac.com/plant/pumpkins/>
US Agency for International Development. (2014). AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY: Nepal. Retrieved from <http://www.usaid.gov/nepal/agriculture-and-food-security/>
Vandermeer, J. (1992). The ecology of intercropping. Cambridge University Press, 1(32), 2-6.
World Health Organization. (2013). What's new and beneficial about pumpkin seeds. Retrieved from <http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=82/>
Xanthopoulou, MN., Nomikos T., Fragopoulou, E., and Antonopoulou, s. (2009). Antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities of pumpkin seed extracts. Food Research International, 42(5), 641-646.