— Dawn

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A three-day 11th Annual Mango Show began at the Sheikh Zayed Public School auditorium here on Sunday.

The show was organised by the agriculture department and district government. More than 45 mango orchard owners displayed at least 40 different varieties of the ‘king of fruits’, including Langra, Saroli, Dasehri, Chaunsa, Sindhri, Anwar Ratol, Neelum, Tota Pari, Samar Bahisht, Sensation, Fajri, Saharni, Begum Pali, Moon Bhog, Malda, Sanglakhi, Kela Aki, Gulab, Ameer Gola, Surkha, Rab Di Shan, Azeemowala, Anokha Sarda among some other varieties.

Mango orchard owners said the fruit crop was better than last year because of less dust storm but they were not getting the best rates in the market.

Malik Muhammad Umair, a farmer of Bhutta Kot, said the Punjab government was not taking interest in facilitating local mango growers for its export to Middle East and Europe.

The government should initiate efforts to establish grading and packing plants for mango growers in the district so they could sell their best produce not only in the country but abroad also.

He also said that the Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry should play its role in starting international cargo flights for mango export through which Pakistan could earn huge foreign exchange.

He further said mango orchards were spread over 69,000 acres in the district and had a significant share of production in the country, but exporters from bigger cities were the beneficiaries of their best quality mango.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2015

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