Mango hub faces climate woes

Despite changing weather and multiple other issues confronting farmers across South Punjab, the region remains a ‘mango haven’ owing to the exotic flavour and aroma of its different varieties.

Extremely popular worldwide, mango orchards are a hallmark of the fertile lands of Multan, Muzaf-fargarh, Khanewal, Rahim Yar Khan and other cities of South Punjab, creating a vibrant montage of lush greenery and golden fruit that captivates both eyes and palates. These mango orchards are spread over thousands of acres in South Punjab with Multan atop in its cultivation on 31,000 hec-tares of land followed by Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh and Khanewal having mango cultivation areas of 26,000, 19,000 and 14,000 hectares, respectively.

Among hundreds of varieties of mango, about 30 are being cultivated on a commercial scale, in-cluding Chaunsa besides Langra, Dausehri, Anwar Ratol, Saroli, Tota Pari, Fajri, Neelum, Alphanso, Almas, Sanwal, Surkha, Sunera and desi.

"It is the king of all fruits. Its taste and aroma are matchless. Moreover, its unique combination with monsoon season makes it loveable and different from other fruits," remarked Abu Bakar Siddique, a resident of Multan. "We eat different fruits all over the year but eating mangoes is a passion. The pleasure we take eating mangoes has no match."

Annual production of mangoes across Pakistan is around 1.8 million tonnes with 90 per cent pro-duced in South Punjab of which only 100,000 tonnes are exported. If more markets are explored and farmers are offered incentives, the crop can earn volumes of foreign exchange for the coun-try.

Multan Mango Research Station Director Hafiz Asif said officials had conducted a comprehensive survey across the region and provided proper guidelines to growers. He said mango growers were well aware and took urgent measures to protect their orchards.