Pakistan’s mango production is set to suffer a drastic decline of around 50 percent during the current year because of water shortages and unusually high temperatures according to the chief of a growers’ and exporters’ association.

The country has experienced an extreme heatwave in May 2022, resulting in temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

The heatwave has had a great impact on the South Asian region and scientists have warned that more than a billion people are at risk from its effects in the region.

Head of the Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association Waheed Ahmed has said that the crops have been greatly affected due to the heatwave as the temperature rapidly changed from around 28, 29 degrees in March to 42 degrees. He informed that the association had reduced the export target by 25,000 tonnes compared to the last year.

He added that mango production was expected to decline by 50 percent this year as the heat during the flowering of the mango trees had affected the crop. Though the heat ripens the succulent yellow fruit, the untimely early rise in temperatures, coupled with water shortages, has badly affected the crop.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan is the world’s fifth-largest producer of mangoes after India, China, Thailand, and Indonesia. The country has an average mango production of nearly 1.8 million tonnes.

Source: Pro Pakistani