MIRPURKHAS: A seminar on promotion of Pakistan’s farm produce in the world market was told that there was a big demand of the Sindhri variety of mangoes in the international market. Therefore, due attention should be paid to the impediments in increasing export of the fruit.

Speaking at the seminar, held on the second and final day of the 57th Mango Festival in the Fruit Farms Hall, Mirpurkhas, chairman of the festival management committee Arif Khan Bhurgari said that abadgars, with the help of government had been holding this annual festival for the last 57 years. Its aim was to promote mangoes and other fruits’ production so that growers could get a reasonable price of their produce.

He noted that due to the unique taste of Sindhri, the fruit was offered as gift to VIPs and VVIPs. This variety is sent to foreign dignitaries as souvenir also, he pointed out.

Mr Bhurgari said that government should provide more facilities to growers so that they could increase production of their crops and keep improving their quality to help earn more and more foreign exchange.

He requested the officers of agriculture and research department to conduct a survey of orchards and prepare a list of those affected by pests and diseases. He said farmers should be provided requisite assistance in adopting precautionary measures to save their crops from pest attacks and diseases.

During the proceedings of the seminar, agriculture experts Dr Nihaluddin Marri, Imdad Ali Soho, Khalid Iqbal Rajput, Saima Minhas, Dr Mohammd Yousuf Rahimoon and Asadullah Kohati read their papers on increasing production and export of mangoes and making their packing safer and attractive.

They said that Pakistan was 5th in the list of big mango producing countries and 7th in list of major mango exporting countries. They said that country produced 1.8 million tonnes of mangoes annually while Sindh produced 23 percent of the country’s total mango production.

Chaudhry Mohammad Saleem, Tanveer Gondal, Gohram Baloch, Umer Bughio and Mirprkhas Deputy Commissioner Dr Abdul Rasheed were among those who also spoke at the seminar.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2025