Amid heatwave, mango production down 60% in parts of Pakistan, export target curtailed

A Pakistani man buys mangoes at a market in Karachi on June 7, 2016. (AFP/FILE)

• Blistering temperatures coupled with shortage of water have damaged mango crop in Punjab and Sindh provinces
• Exporters say they have curtailed export target by 25,000 tons compared to last year, set target of 125,000 tones

KARACHI: Blistering temperatures due to a change in weather patterns have affected this season’s mango production by up to 60 percent in parts of Pakistan, with traders curtailing export target by 25,000 tons as compared to last year, officials and growers said this week.
As South Asia faces a record-breaking heatwave, Pakistan’s metrological department has warned of temperatures rising 3-6 degrees Celsius above normal, with extreme weather consistent with climate change.
The scorching spell has severely damaged crops in mango-growing areas of Punjab and Sindh provinces.
“Rising temperatures in March and April this year have severely affected mango crop across Punjab. Weather has never damaged the crop in the past like this,” Abdul Ghaffar Garewal, a director at the Mango Research Institute (MRI) Multan, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“The temperature which was around 33 degrees Celsius last year has increased to around 43 degrees Celsius, which has destroyed the crop at flowering and early fruiting stages. Abnormal temperature fluctuations have damaged 30-60 percent mango crop in different areas, with some varieties impacted more than others.”
In Punjab, annual mango production was recorded at 1.45 metric tons during the last season, 9.8 percent more than the previous year’s 1.32 metric tons, according to the Crop Reporting Service of the Punjab Agriculture Department.
The Sindh province, another important mango-growing region, is also suffering from extreme temperatures that have affected water supply for irrigation.
Mango growers estimate climate change has impacted up to 25 percent crop this year.
“This year we estimate mango production will be 20-25 percent less than the last year’s, mainly due to the impacts of climate change and a shortage of water,” Mahmood Nawaz Shah, a senior vice president at the Sindh Abadgar Board farmer representative body, told Arab News.
“Sindh’s 60-70 percent areas are facing water shortage. An early rise in temperatures and strong winds, at a speed of around 50 kilometers an hour that caused shedding of the fruit in large quantities on April 28, have also contributed to the decline in output.”
However, mango crop is not the only one affected by climate change.
“Every crop was affected because of higher temperature as it is not tolerated by the flower and the early developing fruit,” the MRI director said. “A bigger fruit can rather bear such temperatures easily.”
Expecting the weather to persist, experts stress the use of modern technology for the development of mango varieties that can yield fruit in the early days of the season.
“For future production, we need to develop technology in such a manner that mango plant should produce flower and fruit in earlier stages, by the end of February or early March,” Garewal said. “Fruit developed in the early stage are intact, because this year higher temperatures were recorded in the second and third weeks of March.” 
As Pakistan is set to export mangos from May 25, exporters say they have curtailed export target by 25,000 tons as compared to last year in view of declining mango production this season and set an export target of 125,000 tones. The country will earn $106 million foreign exchange through the export of mango.
“The mango production and export during the current season are facing stiff challenges in the history of mango seasons,” Waheed Ahmed, patron-in-chief of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA), said on Wednesday.
“Depreciation of rupees, rising labor costs along with high tariff of electricity and gas have significantly multiplied the cost of processing mangoes. Packaging material has also gone up by 30 percent since last season, making it quite difficult for mango exporters to compete in the international market.”
Exporters said an exorbitant increase in sea freight had also played a significant role in making competition stiff for Pakistani mangoes. Last year, sea freight for the Gulf and Dubai were $1,900 per container, but this year the cost had risen to up to $3,000.