MULTAN: Governor Chaudhry Sarwar inaugurated a three-day mango festival here on Thursday at the Defence Housing Authority.

More than 200 varieties of the ‘king of fruits’ have been displayed at 40 stalls arranged by growers.

Addressing the ceremony, the governor said total production of mango crop in Pakistan was 1.7 million tonne but the export volume was poor considering the yield.

“To increase the volume of mango export, we are making efforts to provide maximum facilitation to growers and exporters,” he said.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Hussain Jahanian Gardezi hoped that the festival would contribute well to increase the mango export.

He said the festival was not only a gathering of mango growers, experts and exporters but it was also a source of information and entertainment for the local community.

Talking to Dawn, Mango Growers Association President Zahid Hussain Gardezi said that mango shows were becoming a regular feature but they believed in make it a successful business industry. He said every mango show must include a visit by international importers in mango trade as visits to such activities would enable them to have meetings with Pakistani exporters and growers while they should also be provided opportunities to witness local facilities of processing and packing.

“ Pakistan has the best mango comparable with other countries in taste and flavour but the high-end markets remain skeptical about our international standards which included phystosanitary regulations and pesticide residue apprehensions. In Pakistan growers and exporters have minimal access to check these features before export due to lack of international certified laboratories,” he said.

He said that mango export with enhanced target this year had surpassed previously assessed target for early varieties and mango from Sindh despite hurdles in airfreighting because much of mango was exported through land routes to Iran and Afghanistan and the middle eastern countries.

“Export to Europeon destinations has been handicapped to some extent due to disruptive flight schedules and more due to high airfrieght by foreign carriers. Mango growers are however hopefully to surpass export target due to sufficient crop this year,” he said.

He said that mango shows in particular were a real feature within Pakistan to help acknowledge the efforts of mango growers.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2021