Mango production in Pakistan expected to fell 50% in 2022

The heat wave and shortage of water are main reasons of fall in mango production in South Punjab 

The mango production in Pakistan is expected to decline by around 50%  this year.  The main reasons of this decline are unusually high temperatures, lack of rains and water shortages. the heat wave  hit the mango crop hard. Pakistan is the world’s fifth largest producer of mangoes after India, China, Thailand and Indonesia. Pakistan produce more than 100 different varieties of mangoes. 

Pakistan’s average mango production is nearly 1.8 million tons, but likely to be around half that this year, he said, adding the association has cut is export target by 25,000 tons compared with last year to 125,000 tons. South Punjab produce nearly 70% of Pakistan's mango production. And Sindh produce rest of the 30%. The mango production is experiencing big fall this season.  

Pakistan witnessed an extreme heatwave this month, with temperatures in the south crossing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). There was no spring season this year in Pakistan as the weather jumped from winter to summer without experiencing a spring. The Mango flowers need mild weather in March and April but this year there was no mild spring. 

“The heatwave has affected it (the crop) greatly because the temperature in March was 28, 29 degrees Celsius - but all of a sudden it hit 42,” said Waheed Ahmed, head of the Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association.

He said the heat at the time of the flowering of mango trees affected production greatly, adding that Pakistan was facing a 50 percent drop in mango production this year as a result.

Though the heat ripens the succulent yellow fruit, the untimely early rise in temperatures, coupled with water shortages, have badly affected the crop.

“When the unripened fruit is ready it requires water which helps the mango grow to a good size,” said grower and contractor Gul Hassan in Tando Allah Yar, in the southern province of Sindh. “There is no water in Sindh.”

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