Weather conditions cause loss of 25 pc mango production

Mango production in the country, which was expected to increase by 30 per cent this year, has been drastically affected by climatic change.
Hot weather in Sindh along with thunderstorms with rains in Punjab has affected production of mangoes by almost 25 per cent in the country, which will ultimately have an impact on exports and the fruit’s price in the domestic and international market. Talking to Pakistan Today on Monday, All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) former Chairman Waheed Ahmed said that due to the hot weather in Sindh the mango crop was being prepared ahead of time, causing losses to both growers and exporters.
“Besides, the thunderstorm and rains across Punjab have also caused losses to the vital crop, causing an estimated decline of over 25 per cent in production during this season,” he said. “Owing to the sudden climatic impact on the mango crop, the total production of the fruit is now being estimated to not exceed 1300000 tonnes whereas the expected production of the fruit was 170,0000 tonnes this year” he noted, adding that out of the total production, almost 175,000 tonnes had been planned to be exported this year. “According to an estimate,” he said, “almost 35 per cent of the crop had been destroyed in Sindh, while on the other hand in Punjab, especially in Multan, Shujaabad, Muzaffargarh, and Khan-e-Waal, where the fruit was to be cultivated on almost 56,000, 20,000, 46,000 and 40,000 acres respectively, almost 200000 tonnes were damaged,” he observed.
The Chonsa variety of mangoes was highly damaged in Punjab which is a major export, after the Sindhri variety from Sindh. Though almost 25,000 tonnes of mangoes have so far been exported to various countries, the sudden damage to the fruit has also started affecting overall exports of mangoes, Waheed added. Besides the impact of climatic change over production and export, price of the highly consumed fruit is likely to rise shortly.
Mango prices have already increased by 10 to 15 per cent during the season as the fruit, which was sold at Rs30 per kilogram, is now priced at between Rs35 to Rs40 per kg. Another factor which would affect the exports of mangoes is the increase in freight charges which have also jumped to Rs125 per kg against the previous rate of Rs110 per kg, he claimed.