LAHORE, March 12: According to preliminary reports received from southern Punjab, the recent cold spell may bring down mango production by 25 per cent this year.

Mr Shamoon Sadiq of the Pakistan Horticulture Devel-opment and Export Board said here on Sunday talking to Dawn. He said the severe cold wave that hit the country early January badly damaged nurseries and young trees.

He said initial estimates suggested that the frost damaged younger plants in Punjab up to 30 per cent. However, he said, the older plants remained relatively safe, while the overall damage was estimated to be between 20 to 25 per cent.

Since the flowering stage had just begun in Punjab, it was hard to calculate the extent of total damage, he said and added: “A more authentic damage assessment will be possible when mango orchards will enter the fruit formation stage.”

If the fruit was less in number, it would possibly be bigger in size and might compensate some frost loss, he said.

In Sindh, he said, the Board was launching a survey shortly and hoped to get a clear picture of the damage by the end of this month.

The mango growers, however, think that the damage is greater in extent. A grower from Multan claimed the mercury dropped down to two degrees C for eight days — from January 4 to 12 — and hit the nurseries badly, which damaged up to 10-year-old mango orchards up to 60 per cent. He further claimed that the overall damage could go up to 45 per cent.

He urged the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) and the Punjab government to launch a damage assessment survey in the province and take necessary measures to compensate the loss.