Export gloom sours Pakistan’s prized mango season – Gulf Today

Export gloom sours Pakistan’s prized mango season – Gulf Today

Export gloom sours Pakistan's prized mango season

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A labourer sorts mangoes before packing them into boxes at a farm in Multan. AFP

Dwindling harvests, drooping demand and export supply chains hit by the coronavirus are biting into Pakistan's mango industry, with producers of the prized fruit battling to weather a disastrous season.

Across Pakistan's "mango belt" in Punjab and Sindh provinces, farmers say a long winter and changing rain patterns have slashed production by up to half this year -- just as virus shutdowns sparked border restrictions and spiralling export costs.

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Pakistan's mango exports may drop

"There are multiple problems that mango farmers are facing," said Rana Muhammad Azim, whose family has been producing the fruit in Punjab for generations.

"The situation is extremely worrisome for us. The mangoes are ready, but no exporter is willing to take the risk and place orders," he said, adding that he was already suffering from a 40 percent decline in the harvest.

Labourers pack mangoes into boxes at a farm in Multan. AFP

Pakistan produced more than 1.5 million tonnes of mangoes in 2019 -- and exported a record 115,000 tonnes worth $80 million -- making it the sixth-largest exporter of the fruit in the world.

But Waheed Ahmed,