Mango festival kicks off in Multan

Festival aims to attract international buyers to boost export

MULTAN: A three-day mango festival kicked off in Multan. The event was inaugurated by Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson.

While speaking on the occasion, she said that whenever she visited Pakistan, a country of love and peace, the only thing that came to her mind were the tasty and delicious mangoes.

She praised the quality of the mangoes and the efforts of farmers in producing the fruit with dedication and commitment. “Pakistani mangoes are highly praised in Australia,” she maintained.

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture Vice-Chancellor Prof Asif Ali said that mango was the king of all fruits. He said that according to a rough estimate, mangoes have been cultivated in the sub-continent for 4,000 years.

He added 149 and 1,000 species of grafted and seed grown mangoes were being cultivated respectively. Approximately, 25 million tonnes of mangoes are being produced worldwide, Asif mentioned.

The VC said Pakistan contributed 1.8 million tonnes of mangoes, which are being cultivated on an area of about 0.4 million acres. Pakistan produces 200 different varieties of mangoes such as Chaunsa, Dosehri, Langra, Anwar Ratol, Fajri, Saroli, Desi and Sindhri, which are rich in taste, sweetness and quality. As a result, they are in high demand around the globe.

Earlier, District Administration Spokesperson Waseem Yousaf said the mango festival was organised to attract international buyers, to increase exports and to earn maximum amount of foreign exchange.

He pointed out that a similar festival was organised in 2017 in collaboration of Agriculture University Multan and it received a huge response from the local and international community. “These mango festivals provide a platform to buyers and sellers and help them increase international trade,” he said.

He said Pakistan is ranked seventh in the production of mangoes. “In Pakistan, 72,703 acres of land is utilised to harvest mango crops and the annual production is two million metric tonnes. At least 1.3 million tonnes of mangoes are cultivated in Punjab only,” he elaborated.

Agriculture experts say that Asia has a 77% share in the production of mangoes. Pakistan exports mangoes to more than 50 countries, including Middle East, Europe, America, Japan, Mauritius, Kuwait, Muscat, Bahrain, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Singapore and other countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2018.