Daily Times

Despite changing weathers and multiple other issues confronting farmers across South Punjab, the region still remains a “Mangoes Heaven and Taste Capital” owing to exotic flavor and aroma of different mango varieties.

Extremely popular world over, mango orchards are a hallmark of fertile lands of Multan, Muzaffargarh, Khanewal, Rahim Yar Khan and other cities of South Punjab creating a vibrant montage of lush greenery and golden fruit that captivates both eyes and palates.

These mango orchards spread over thousands of acres in South Punjab with Multan atop in its cultivation on 31,000 hectare land followed by Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh and Khanewal having mangoes cultivation areas of 26,000, 19,000 and 14,000 hectares respectively.

Among hundreds of varieties of mangoes, 25 to 30 are being cultivated on commercial scale including “King of the Fruit” Chaunsa besides Langra, Dausehri, Anwar Ratool, Saroli, Tota Pari, Fajri, Neelum, Alphanso, Almas, Sanwal, Surkha, Sunera and Desi varieties.

“It is king of all fruits. Its taste and aroma is matchless. Moreover, its unique combination with monsoon season makes it loveable and different from other fruits,” remarked Abu Bakar Siddique, a resident of Multan. “We eat different fruits all over the year but eating mangoes is a passion. The pleasure we take eating mangoes have no match.” Annual production of mangoes across Pakistan is around 1.8 million tons with 90 percent produced in South Punjab of which only 100,000 tons is exported. If more markets are explored and farmers are incentivized, this crop can earn volumes of precious foreign exchange for the country.

No doubt that more mango orchards are being planted but, still this treasure trove of South Punjab is confronting numerous challenges like land fertility, climate change and erasing mango orchards in the name of development. But, climate change is more a serious issue raising eye brows of many experts.

“Weather pattern is affecting mangoes. Global warming is not suitable for many mango varieties. Two varieties “Anwar Ratool” and “Samar Bahisht Chaunsa” face growth issues. Production of both varieties witnessed significant decline,” said a farmer Shahid Hameed Bhutta.

Former Director Mango Research Station, Abdul Ghaffar Garewal also mentioned to late flowering of two major mango varieties, ‘Sindhari and Chaunsa Samar Bahisht.’ “These varieties did not gain their optimal size due to low temperature at flowering stage. Then during May 22-29, it spiked to 47 and 51 degrees Celsius. This stress exacerbated the crop loss.”

He opined that due to changing weather mango crop was delayed this year and exporters had to wait for shipments till May 30, almost a week late than the previous years. “Late flowering delayed the fruit ripening as climatic anomaly affected size and quality of mangoes and made it susceptible to pest attacks, thus reducing the yield. Therefore, exporters could also not get desired profit this season.”

Garewal advised farmers and exporters to closely monitor climatic conditions and adjust their timelines accordingly to ensure that mangoes reach optimal ripeness before being shipped.

He said the farmers should cultivate varieties preferred by international markets as they could enhance profitability by focusing on these profitable varieties instead of growing a mix of eight to ten local varieties. “The transitioning from conventional farming practices to market-oriented cultivation would surely benefit them.”

This reduced production is also challenging for exporters who have to visit various mango orchards for export-quality product as shrinking mango size makes it difficult for them to buy the required product.

As the mango crop is also being affected by changing weather pattern, there is dire for adaptation measures to mitigate climate change impact on mango and save existing varieties as well as research on new varieties so the country could continue with its export volume.

Director Mango Research Station Multan Hafiz Asif informed that department officials had conducted a comprehensive survey across the region and provided proper guidelines to growers. He informed that mango growers were well aware and took urgent measures to protect their orchards from climate impacts. Regarding heat stress, he stated that growers irrigated their orchards during heat spells, thereby mitigating the effects of climate change.

Hafiz Asif acknowledged the fact of low production but clarified that actual situation was different as he asserted that overall production had not decreased as mango cultivation was actually increasing in the region.

He claimed that concerns about extensive mango cutting were exaggerated as if a grower sells his 25 acres mangoes land with mango orchards, he plant mangoes on 100 acres as Asif expressed hope that our exporters would earn handsome foreign exchange from mangoes export.

Now whatever the situation; but in a country with agricultural economy each and every crop matters and when there is persistent threat of climate change, it is obligatory on our policy makers and researchers to continue efforts for introducing new varieties and adaptation measures to saving our farmers changing weather patterns.