MANGO is an important fruit crop with big domestic market and export potential. Its export fetches about $24 million per annum depending upon the crop size. Of the total output, around 60-70 per cent good quality mango is exported to the Middle East and 15-16 per cent to Europe.
Mango crop is very sensitive to climate and soil. Not all areas of the country are suitable for its cultivation. Some areas of southern Punjab including Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, D.G.Khan, Sujaabad, Kabirwala and Khanewal are the noted areas for mango orchards and could be placed in category-A with maximum output. Other areas of Punjab that could be categorised as category-B with lesser mango output due to climatic and soil constraints include Sahiwal, Vehari, Okara, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Sargodha.
Similarly, some areas of Sindh that are placed in category-A are Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Nausharoferoz and Khairpur. Fewer mango orchards are found in NWFP and Balochistan.
Mango output fluctuates with the yearly average of 1.1 to 1.3 million tons. The share of Punjab in the national output stands at around 67 per cent. Pakistan ranks the fifth largest mango-producing country.
Heavy rains and hailstorm at the time of florescence adversely affect its output. Cold wave also damages nurseries and young trees. In 2008, mango production was reduced significantly due to severe cold wave but this year, the weather is quite normal and there is strong likelihood of bumper mango crop provided there were no heavy rains and hail storms that results in premature falling of mangoes.
Mango orchards are attacked by a number of diseases including powdery mildew, blossom blight and anthracnose. These diseases attack at early stage of flowering. There is a need for adopting timely plant protection measures, integrated pest management and disease control.
Last year, the government launched agriculture linkage programme with the assistance of Australian scientists to control pests and diseases that inflict quantitative and qualitative damage to mango crop.
The disease attack on mango orchards is most destructive. Diseases not only reduce the fruit size but also adversely affect quality causing lower market value. The growers having not enough knowledge of the nature of disease and mode of action of pesticides embark upon excessive sprays that instead of controlling the disease tend to inflate the cost of production. Sometimes growers resort to six to seven sprays but fail to control the spreading disease.
The powdery mildew appears from January to March. This disease spreads rapidly due to high rains along with increased temperature. This is the most destructive disease of mango orchards and is characterised by superficial whitish grey mycelia growth appearing on the flowers and buds that later spreads to fruits, Photo by Arsalan
leaves, shoots and trunk. Gradually, the whole plant gets covered with the fungus. It is crucial to control the disease in time to avoid damage.
It is, therefore essential to adopt timely preventive and curative measures to control such diseases having bad impact on output as well as quality of mango. Proper research work is essential to identify diseases at right time to avoid losses. Such varieties must be introduced using germplasm of broad base, which are resistant to diseases. It was disappointing that not a single commercial variety of mango was found resistant against quick decline a few years back and the growers cut down orchards due to quick mortality of mango trees.
Unless recommended cultivars are planted in specific agro-ecological zones, diseases would continue damaging the crop and would be difficult to control. For instance, quick decline disease was more devastating for canal-irrigated orchids but what was the cause of the prevalence of this disease in these areas is still unknown. It is, therefore, recommended that mango orchards should comprise disease-resistant varieties with adequate system of management in order to give kick start to commercialisation on large scale.
Management practices of mango orchards are out-dated and traditional ones and needs to be modified accordingly in accordance with modern practices. For example, the common practice is to apply high doses of nitrogenous fertilisers. On the other, excessive nitrogen application causes disease spread. Improper application of fertilisers, sanitation of orchards and untimely pruning of trees enhances infection and growth of the disease-causing fungus, the growers are largely unaware.
The growers lack requisite spraying skills. Lack of knowledge on the part of growers about recommended sprays, interval of spraying, handling of sprayers, timing of spray, number of sprays, dose and growth stage are hindering timely and effective control of diseases.
It is essential to developed integrated orchard management packages to reduce disease, improve fruit quality, reduce biennial bearing and improve mango supply chain.
It is crucial to develop integrated orchard management packages to reduce disease, improve fruit quality, reduce biennial bearing and improve mango supply.