Pakistani Mango Unique In Taste Across Globe

Pakistan is producing best quality mango which is unique in its taste across the globe and the government can earn huge foreign exchange by increasing mango production in the country

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Dec, 2023) Pakistan is producing best quality mango which is unique in its taste across the globe and the government can earn huge foreign exchange by increasing mango production in the country.

A spokesman of Agriculture (Extension) Department Mubeen Ahmad said here on Friday that Pakistan is ranked at sixth among the largest mango producing countries of the world. The mango orchards were grown in Pakistan over 0.142 million acres of land which are producing 1.7 million tons mango per annum and Punjab province contributed 70 percent share in total mango production, he added.

He said that Pakistani mangoes are very tasty and overwhelmed in foreign markets because a huge increase is recorded in the demand of Pakistani mango at global level.

He said that Pakistan can earn huge foreign exchange by increasing mango production and enhancing its exports according to the demand of international markets.

Responding to a question, he told APP that successful and profitable cultivation of orchards depends upon proper maintenance. The gardeners can ensure not only better fruit quality but also higher yields with a little care.

He said that mealy bugs suck juices from soft branches of the mammal trees of mangoes by biting with needles of their mouths. They also expel mucus from their body, which causes black pus to grow on the leaves. In this way, food of the plant reduces due to the obstruction in the process of photosynthesis, which dries up the soft branches and flowers.

In the month of December, the process of hatching eggs of mealy bugs begins. Therefore, to destroy mealy bugs, the gardeners should dig earth around the mango trees stem and fill it by mixing chlorpyrifos in 10 ml per liter of water for destroying babies of the pests through effect of poison as soon as they hatch from the eggs, he said.

The farmers should also apply a 1-foot-wide lock around the plants and a 1-inch good-quality grease cover in between the stem so that the children of mealy bugs do not climb up the tree. On next day under the cover, Lambda-cyhalothrin or bifenthrin mixed according to the ratio of 250 ml in 100 liters of water should be sprayed and this process should be continued for 3 days. However, the farmers should not use the same poison repeatedly in this regard, he added.

He also advised the mango gardeners to protect their orchards from cold weather and said that the cold is injurious to mango plants especially during frost days.

He said that the farmers should remain alert and water the orchards repeatedly during the winter as drought could aggravate the situation for mango plants. He said that the cold could destroy the mango nurseries if it is less than 4 degrees centigrade. However, the large plants are less affected due to their high immunity, so it is important to adopt appropriate strategies to deal with this situation to reduce the risk of damage.

He said that on severe cold nights, when the temperature reaches at freezing point, the plants emit heat rapidly and cooled down due to which water in the plant cells froze and chemical ingredients either lost their balance or their effect.

The cold mostly affected soft and delicate parts of the plant while in case of frost, the mango leaves got burnt, bark of the stem burst and the small plants dried up.

He advised the gardeners to take precautionary measures immediately to protect the mango orchards from harmful effects of winter. They should also contact the agronomists or field staff of agriculture department for further guidance in this regard, he added.