Mango Production Likely To Drop by 20%
By Omed Hajjana
Pakistan’s mango production is likely to drop by around 20% during this season.
The main factors that resulted in low production included climate change, unseasonal rains, heavy windstorms, and hailstorms.
These hailstorms occurred in the last few months of April and May.
Farmers who grow mangoes said that bad effects of climate change, like hailstorms and heavy rains, have ruined mango exports and caused them a lot of worry.
They also said that this season’s production would be greatly damaged.
Reasons for Drop in Mango Production
Siddique Joiya, a mango grower and trader from Multan, said that Pakistan has the ability to produce 1.8 million metric tonnes of mangoes.
Mango production is likely to drop 1.8 to 1.4 million metric tonnes due to suffering from climate change.
He said that our ancestors had been working in the mango business for the last 20 years. “We sell mangoes in different places in the country, like Peshawar and Karachi,” he said.
Siddique Joiya says that there hasn’t been a good pattern of climate change in the last year. This change in the weather hurts the exporting of mangoes this season.
“Since last year, we’d sent 30 to 35,000 mango boxes to different parts of the country,” he said. Even though it wouldn’t be good for our exports because of the strong windstorm and rain that are happening now.
He urged agricultural research organizations and the current government to protect mango production and shield the mango industry from the negative effects of climate change. He also asked the right people to start an effective campaign to help mango growers.
Qaswar Zarkani, a mango grower from Bhakkar, told this reporter that South Punjab is the biggest mango-growing area in the country. He also said that the country needs to start using modern techniques to grow mangoes right away.
Mango farmers said that South Punjab produced 70% of the country’s mango, while Sindh produced 29% and KPK produced 1%.
A young horticulturist named Muhammad Zeeshan Khan said that climate change is having a bad effect on mango production right now. He said that mango is known as the “king of fruits” and has a lot of economic value in Pakistan.
It is also the second most-produced fruit in Pakistan. Mango production has dropped during the last two to three years due to climate change.
Multan, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, and Rahim Yar Khan are the most important mango-growing areas in Punjab province.FFBL Faces 22000 MT Fertilizer Production Loss Due To Low Gas Pressure
He also said that Multan has had a lot of strong rain and wind storms in the last two months, which has hurt the mango nursery and mango production.
About 10-15 percent of mango fruits fall off due to rain and windstorms, which could lower mango production and lead to a shortage of mangoes on the market.
He said that the shortage of mangoes would result in the prices going up in the market. During the peak season, which is June, July, and August, it looks like the price of one box of mangoes would be around 15,000.
