RAHIM YAR KHAN, June 9: Up to 25 to 30 per cent of the mango yield worth Rs1 billion is wasted every year due to conventional harvest methods and flawed marketing strategies, according to Chaudhry Imtiaz Ahmed, fruit and vegetable development project assistant director.

Production problems include unauthentic nursery plants, a lack of good quality irrigation water, improper disease management technology, low accessibility to soil and plant analysis facilities, an improper insect management, inappropriate management of nutritional deficiency, defective pruning techniques and non-trained labour.

Mr Ahmed says marketing problems include the exploitation of growers by the middleman, the lack of facilities in fruit markets, improper post-harvest handling of the crop, the lack of cold storage facilities, cheap packing material, fluctuating prices, a lack of refrigerated transportation, a lack of awareness regarding export procedures and non–identification of markets.

He said the Punjab Agriculture Department had begun a fruit and vegetable development project two years ago in several districts of Punjab. The project aims at organising mango growers, improving the quality and quantity of mangoes, increasing foreign exchange through mango exports, minimising the use of pesticides in mango orchards and introducing good agriculture practices in Multan and Rahim Yar Khan. For this purpose, every year 60 farmer field schools (FFC) have been planned where mango farmers will be trained.

Mr Ahmed says Pakistan produces 378 mango boxes per acre which are sold for Rs56,700 in the market. He says under the fruit and vegetable development project, the department plans to enhance the yield to 900 mango boxes per acre by adopting modern agriculture practices.

He said the export quality mango should be free of diseases, free of pest attack, of a uniform and average size, free of injuries, scars and scabs and attractive and in a standard packing. He said Pakistan can earn foreign exchequer through exporting approved mango varieties like Sindhri, Samar Bahisht, Sunsession, Began Pali, Alfanso, Neelum and Fajri.

Punjab Agriculture Marketing Secretary Chaudhry Muhammad Azhar Sohail says that grading machines will be installed in Multan and Rahim Yar Khan to increase the mango export. These machines will grade mango in six sizes at a very low cost. Pakistan produces four tonnes per acre mangoes and 2.55 million acres cover mango orchards in the country.

According to the figures of the Federal Institute of Statistics in 2005-2006, Pakistan produces 17.53 million tonnes of mangoes every year. Famous varieties of mango grown in Punjab are: Chaunsa (Samar Bahishti), Dosehri, Malda, Langra and Anwar Ratol. Prominent Sindh varieties are: Sindhri, Gulab Khas, Began Pali and Neelum.

Pakistani mango is exported to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Kingdom. In 2003 and 2004, 77,000 tons of mangoes were exported. The last year it stood at 80,000 tonnes. The mango has found its new markets in China, Iran, Australia, Russia and Eastern Europe.