The Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB) has failed this year to achieve the mango export target by a big margin. Last year, Pakistan had exported around 90,000 tons mango by mid-July, but the figure this year remained stuck at 62,500 tons, according to PHDEB newsletter 'Hortimag'. A few hundred tons more could be added to this figure because exports continued for a couple of weeks beyond mid-July.
The PHDEB had raised the target to 130,000 tons for the current season due to expected increase in yield but its calculation went wrong and total exports this year may hardly touch 100,000 tons figure. Last year, exports had touched 120,000 tons.
Shamoon Sadiq, Chief Executive, PHDEB, was quoted saying that the yield suffered due to untimely rains and wind storms, causing fruit dropping at premature stage. The weather also affected the quality of the product, which turned out to be the key impediment to exports, he said.
The production recorded during 2006-07 was 2.1 million tons, with Punjab contributing 67 percent and Sindh 32.1 percent. But in 2008 the yield dropped to around 1.7 million tons as the cold wave at the time of inflorescence adversely affected the crop in some parts of Punjab. Its impact on the final production is likely to be around 15 percent.
Shamoon said that besides these temporary trade hiccups, the Board had achieved a lot of improvement in the mango supply chain, which included good agricultural practices (GlobalGAP), de-sapping through lime wash treatment for cosmetic improvement and improved harvesting techniques through modern tools. Metro, an international chain of super store had taken the initiative of transporting Pakistani mango to Germany through sea and the Board was providing full support to it.
"Once Pakistan succeeds in transporting mango to the European Union (EU) by sea, there will be a paradigm shift in trade," he said. According to the 2008-09 Mango Development Strategy, the Board has set a target of exporting 25 tons to China on trial basis, 28,000 tons to the UAE, 16,412 tons to Saudi Arabia, 4,533 tons to Oman, 18,238 tons to UK, 1,204 tons to Iran, 1,504 tons to France and 60,000 tons to other markets.
The objective of the 2008-09 development plan includes interventions for export enhancement by improving production with Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) and cosmetic improvement through commercialisation of de-sap technology. PHDEB had started EurepGAP programme in 2007 with two certifications in mango orchards in the Punjab. This year, three farms in Sindh would be given support for the Global GAP certification. It is expected that around 3,000 acres of mango would be GlobalGAP certified in the Punjab and 2,000 acres in Sindh.
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