Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Saturday said that the exacerbating environmental degradation due to climate change has cast serious impacts on the production of mangoes across the country during the current season.
In a statement on prevailing crisis of reduced crop of mangoes due to increased temperature and water shortage, the Minister said Pakistan was ranked 5th in the list of countries producing maximum mangoes in the world.
“But this year, due to severe water shortages and rising temperatures, mango production is expected to decline by 50 percent. This year in most parts of Sindh province, there was a shortage of more than 60% agricultural water”, she added.
Sherry Rehman underlined that the decline in mango production would have a negative impact on the income of the farmers and all those involved in the business.
“The effects of climate change are now being felt in our economy and our daily lives. For the future, we must ensure fair distribution of water and precautionary measures to cope with the looming crisis”.
The Minister said Pakistan used to produce about 1.8 million tonnes of mangoes every year, which had halved this year.
“A 50% reduction in mango production in Sindh and Punjab has been witnessed in just one year which is a matter of concern for all of us. Mango production has been severely damaged due to untimely availability of water”, she said.