HYDERABAD The atmosphere is suffocating. The stench in the vegetable and fruit market is overpowering, but Ali Sher has to move fast amidst scorching heat, wiping sweat from his face. Looking completely exhausted, he is busy earning whatever he can before the current mango season comes to an end.

Thanks to its excellent flavour, the mango is rightly called the king of fruits. There are allegedly over a hundred varieties of mangoes, but only two are widely recognised — those from India and Pakistan and those from Southeast Asia.

Mangoes have been cultivated in many a country, but nowhere is it as ubiquitous as in the sub-continent; Hyderabad's fruit market serves as the main outlet from where mangoes from Sindh are dispatched up-country by road and train.

Sindh produces a number of high-quality mangoes, with Sindhri remaining the most popular variety. Prices of unripe Sindhri mangoes this year vary from around Rs1,300 to Rs1,500 per 160 kg bag — showing a marked increase from last year, when prices ranged from Rs1300 to Rs1400.

Mango commission agents claimed that demand this year remains high, and will likely rise further as the season draws to a close. Last year, Sindhri was sold till June 5, but this year it is still widely available.

Agents added that mangoes were being brought to market earlier and earlier, which made for higher quantities, but less flavourful mangoes, a move thought to be influenced greatly by the contractors who work with orchard owners.

'At least farmers should take care of their orchards till the fruit attains maturity and then they may give its harvesting rights to contractors. It will certainly improve quality and quantity of mango,' said progressive mango grower Imdad Nizamani from Tando Allahyar. He predicts less production of mango this year because of the short winter this year.

Mango cultivation in Sindh is not growing as compared to Punjab, where its area and production are both increasing. According to Director Sindh Horticulture Research Institute, Dr.Atta Soomro, Sindh produced 267,100 against Punjab's 501,000 tons in 1990-91 as per figures of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) while in 2007-08 Sindh produced just 368,100 tons against Punjab's 1,373,100 tons.

'I expect our production of mango this year to be not more than 330,000 tons,' he said.

It was due to mango growers' strong tendency in Sindh to give their orchards on contracts instead of taking care of it on their own. That's why mango growers are also not interested in export of mango though they can earn considerable profits. As a result, the large-scale export of fruit export remains a dream in Sindh. In 2007-08 Pakistan's mango export was 68,879 metric tons against production of 17,53,686 tons while in 2006-07 it was 61,632 tons against 1,719,177 tons production.

'So far shipment of $99,183 of mango has been exported to UAE, Germany, Italy, England, etc.,' said deputy director Trade Development Authority Pakistan (TDAP), Hyderabad Abdul Salam Abbasi. He sees great potential in export of mango from Sindh but regretted that the growers of Sindh are not interested, as the majority prefer giving their orchards to contractors instead.

Requirements of Global GAP (good agricultural practices) - a certification system - under which a systematic chain of fruit's health is to be ensured perhaps discouraged forced from taking care of scientific use of soil, fertilizer, spray, urea, picking pre and post-harvesting care, packing and transportation. These requirements not only pay dividends to growers but ensure labourers health safety as they are not exposed to hazardous chemicals.

In Sindh growers give orchards to contractors before the season commences in return for cash-payments, and then leave it up to the contractor to decide how labourers are picked and used, mangoes are transported and their shelf-life maintained.

The pollination of mangoes is also often adversely affected in March-April under short-term agreements with contractors; excessive dropping of flowers, for example, is widespread.

'Financial capacity and lack of skilled labour are [the] main hurdles that force growers to offer orchard to contractors. Mango is a perishable commodity thus growers avoid holding it for a longer period. But we need to break monopoly of contractors and bring our crop to market on our own. I tried to market my crop on my own but faced insurmountable difficulty due to middlemen,' said Haji Nadeem Shah, an old mango grower from Matiari. He said, 'contractor earns 400 times more than growers. For instance if I get Rs20,000 per acre, contractor gets Rs80,000 for the same. We can open our own sale points to market our product to benefit consumers. I and my friends plan to do something of this sort next year,' he said.

Picking mangoes from trees must be done carefully in order to maximise shelf life. A stem of one to two centimetres must be left on the mango otherwise in order to prevent the fruit from rotting immediately. Likewise a temperature of 13 degrees centigrade, with a relative humidity of 85 to 90 per cent during transportation and storage must also be ensured. Contractors trying to maximize short-term profits may forgo quality control in favour of large harvests, rushed quickly to market.

Dr. Soomro contended that in Punjab growers prefer small farms instead of the huge ones which dominate Sindh. 'We have absentee mango orchard owners in Sindh who don't even visit their land. Mango tree demands pruning ... and we have better climatic conditions for this fruit as compared to Punjab,' he said.

Mango orchard owners stand to earn large sums of money this season while sitting at home, while labourers like Ali Sher return home having earned just Rs300 to Rs400 during mango season. 'I don't have any complaint because it's my job. But it's too difficult to make both ends meet,' he said.