MANGO is an important export commodity as it earns about $24 million annually. Around 60-70 per cent good quality mango is exported to Middle East and 15-16 per cent to Europe.
The volume of exports vary from year to year as in 2003 and 2004 it was around, 59,000 and 77,000 tons, respectively. Pakistani mango occupies a central position in international market due to its unique taste and flavour.
The soil and climate of certain areas are favourable for mango plantation with main areas located in southern Punjab and Sindh. Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, the D.G. Khan, Sujaabad, Kabirwala, and Khanewal are noted for huge mango orchards.
Sahiwal, Vehari, Okara, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Sargodh are other growing areas in Punjab. In Sindh, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Naushahroferoz and Khairpur are noted for mango orchards.
Fewer orchards are also found in the NWFP and Balochistan. Such orchards cover around three hundred thousand acres. Its production keeps fluctuating with the yearly average of 1.1-1.3 million tons. The share of Punjab alone is 67 per cent. Pakistan ranks fifth largest mango producer in the world.
Last year, torrential rains followed by hailstorms in southern Punjab during early florescence adversely affected the output. This year too, production is likely to fall because of cold wave that hit the country in early January.
According to preliminary estimates, mango production would decline by 20-25 per cent this year over the last year due to severe cold wave which badly damaged the nurseries and young trees. It was observed that frost damaged younger plants in the Punjab up to 30 per cent. However, older plants remained relatively safe.
In Punjab, it is difficult to make final assessment of the extent of damage because the orchards have just passed the florescence stage that lasted from mid February to mid March. It could be made only when orchards enter into the fruit formation stage. Number of fruit per plant and fruit size determines the output. More fruit of bigger size means higher output per plant.
Since mango not only contributes to national consumption but also to national foreign earnings, it is essential to enhance its productivity. The orchards suffer from a number of diseases such as powdery mildew, blossom blight and anthracnose which attack at an early stage of flowering.
Diseases not only cause reduction in overall output but also decline the quality of final produce. In the backdrop of excessive sprays, the cost of production increases that discourages growers. Sometimes, growers resort to as many sprays as 6-7 times but, yet they remain unable to contain the diseases due to faulty spraying equipments, ineffective pesticides and untimely application.
The powdery mildew appears from January to March. High humidity supported by rains and high temperature cause widespread problem of this disease.
The disease is characterized by superficial whitish grey mycelia growth, initially appearing on flowers and buds. Later the fungus spreads to fruit, leaves, shoots and trunk. The whole surface of the affected flowers and young fruit gets covered with a powdery substance consisting of millions of spores. Therefore, preventive and curative measures for the control of diseases must be applied.
Proper research work is essential. Such varieties must be introduced using germplasm of broad base which are resistant to diseases. It was disappointing that not a single commercial variety of mango was found resistant against Quick Decline a few years back and the growers cut down orchards due to quick mortality of mango trees.
To add to this, the varieties should be introduced for specific agro-ecological zones. The growers should be forced to plant recommended cultivar. For instance, Quick Decline disease was more devastating for canal-irrigated orchids but what was the cause of the prevalence of this disease in these areas is still unknown.
The common practice is to apply high doses of nitrogenous fertilizers. On the other hand, excessive nitrogen application causes disease spread. Therefore, the growers are suggested to avoid high doses of nitrogen fertilizers. Proper sanitation of orchards and pruning of trees may also help reduce the infection and growth of the disease-causing fungus.
Spray of suitable fungicide at an interval of 10-15 days should be done when the inflorescence starts appearing. If disease appears in epidemic form, the plant should be re-sprayed. While spraying on the flowers care should be taken not to hit the flowers directly. The fungicide should be used alone and in proper dose.
It is essential to keep mango trees healthy with large spacing in nurseries and orchards to slow down the spread of disease from plant to plant; use healthy seeds, seedlings and plants for planting and budding/grafting; avoid inter-cropping, mix cropping, cover cropping and multiple cropping in or in the surrounding of mango orchards to exclude any possibility of multiplying possible pathogens of the sown crop and mango; apply irrigation as per requirement; use proper and balanced fertilizers on the basis of soil type, age and need of the tree; and proper sanitation of orchards and pruning of trees and spray broad-spectrum insecticides in combination with the fungicides should be ensured.
