Mango farmers across country continue their partnership with the USAID to maximize yields, improve product quality, introduce better packaging and create market linkages.
All these advancements are helping Pakistani mango growers tap into new export markets with each passing season. As the mango season for 2012 begins, this partnership continues to bear fruit. “We are confident that with USAID’s support, all of the ground work has been done,” said Ghulam Sarwar Abro of Mustafa Agricultural Farms in Kotri (Sindh), who has been a partner with USAID’s Mango Program.
“We have the required standards, infrastructure and linkages to tap the international markets on a competitive footing,” added the grower.
Some seven mango farms from Sindh are already scheduled to send commercial shipments to high-end markets across the globe in June this year.
More farms would participate in commercial shipments as soon as harvesting begins in Punjab. The USAID has signed Infrastructure Upgrade Agreements (IUAs) with 15 mango farmers across Pakistan on a cost-sharing basis to build pack houses.
The USAID has also provided assistance to 15 farmers in achieving GlobalG.A.P. certification under a similar cost-share agreement and has planned to increase this number by the end of this season by adding another 12 certified farms.
