In the last five years, the surface of the mango orchards in Sindh has decreased, reducing from 59,100 hectares in 2019-20 to 58,900 hectares in 2023-24.
It was a sensual summer morning. Mir Shah Mohammad Talpur was visiting her extensive mango orchards, located on the outskirts of Hyderabad, to inspect the products of the year. However, the ruthless sun looked on his back and mercury rose to 43.2 degrees Celsius was making things difficult for Mir.
However, for mangoes, these climatic conditions were together with their harvest.
Mir’s garden extends through 450 acres. “I have been taking care of the Bagh From my father’s disappearance … many trees here are about 50 years old, “he said Dawn.com. The 49 -year -old had a black sun cover along with a neck flap to avoid exposure to intense heat.
Like many in the area, Mir also sub -joy his mango garden, a fashion practice, in general, in Sindh. Only a few producers, including those who believe in progressive agriculture, handle their own orchards. The province is known for its Sindhri mangoes, harvested in the first week of June.
Despite other varieties such as Saroli, Dasehri and Langra, which are harvested until mid -May, Sindhri remains the most favorite option of mango lovers. It is not only a favorite of export, but also uses as “seasonal gift” by politicians and high -level government officials.
“This time, Sindhri is being chosen quite early thanks to market dynamics,” Mir said. “The fall of the trees fruit indicates that it is now mature and ready for harvest.” For this year’s harvest, he signed an agreement with Haji Ramazan Siyal, a fine -contract contractor.
From trees to the dishes
In Mir’s Orchard, Punjab workers, who routinely cross to this side of the provincial border during the season, are occupied with several tasks: climb trees to start mangoes, classifying fruits for export consignments and local market consumption, and cooking foods.
These workers, many of them from the districts of the southern Punjab of Muzaffarh, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan and fine, remain in the orchards for more than a month until the end of the harvest season and subsequent marketing.
Then they go to Punjab, where the harvest begins relatively late. These workers have experience in preparation burdock (wood boxes), Bharawa (Fill in boxes), Thukawa (Mango packaging) and Turawa (plucking). His skill is on display as they move quickly through the orchards.
The choice of mangoes is known conventionally as’potato‘In the Sindhi language. Some agricultural workers upload trees, while others are under the polypropylene bags in their hands. These specific bags are used to ensure that not a single handle touch the earth underneath, which can damage the form and quality of the King of fruits.
The mangoes torn so far are collected in a separate place to make a mound of them before they are qualified. The omnipresent sweet smell of immature mangoes permeates this part of the garden.
Move from conventional to modern forms
In Mir’s farm, however, Siyal’s workers, including their young son, Mudassir Siyal, have moved away from the conventional harvest or potato. Instead, they choose each handle in a small bag, whose edge is fixed with a sharp cutter. This process reduces labor, because the fruit is collected in a basket and then moves to classify and qualify manuals.
“I feel that the fruit suffers on the inside in the potato way of reaping, “Mir says, sitting under the canopy of the canopy of an old mango tree.” This year, workers are cleaning the trees in a quite efficient way to avoid losses. “Soon, Siyal’s men take portions of mangoes.
According to Siyal, Mir’s garden needs massive stems to let sunlight and air pass easily. “I have given some advice to Mir Sáheb On how to cut large branches of trees that are currently entangled considerably. It must be done through the garden, ”he says.
“I started working as a worker to climb trees to collect mangoes, and then I became a contractor. I bought my first Bagh In the early 1970s for RS30,000 and now my son works with me, ”he adds.
The contractor provides high quality mangoes to exporters, in addition to selling them in national wholesale markets throughout Sindh, under a commercial agreement for export to Iran. Each cardboard invariably carries eight to nine kilograms of mangoes. Exporters usually reach the orchards after contacting contractors, while some now work as garden contractors.
However, many producers avoid garden management. “Managing a mango garden and then marketing the fruit is not everyone’s tea cup,” said Nadeem Shah, owner of a garden in Matiari. “I tried to administer it at some point, but then I got back. It is a complicated business with which I find it difficult to deal with.”
Threat to mangoes
The surface of the mango orchards has decreased in the last five years, from 59,100 hectares in 2019-20 to 58,900 hectares in 2023-24. However, mango production showed a slight increase of 329,300 tons in 2019-20 and 387,200 tons in 2023-24. However, these figures have a sad image compared to a decade ago, when the surface stood at 63,144 hectares with a production of 402,514 tons, according to data from the Sindh Agriculture Department.
Mango producers fear that fruit production falls considerably this year due to several factors. Earlies this year, mangoes suffered claims apparently due to climatic patterns driven by climate change. Severe water shortage in critical stages of flowering and fruiting in February and March was another important factor that affected the mango culture.
Water scarcity has also affected Mir’s handle orchards. “Look at the size of the mango … There are 970 grams, but this could have been more than 1,000 grams or even closer to 1,100 grams if we provide water to the garden before harvesting,” he lamented. I water the trees before starting the ground under swamp, thus restricting the mobility of the workers.
If this were not enough, a disease called malformation and a plague known as a hopper damaged the crop. Again he was followed by substantial damage due to powerful wind storms that visited Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas, mango production center, causing a massive fall of immature mangoes. Some signs of malformed flowers were still present in the trees.
Malformation is a disease, and producers can only control it by eliminating malformed flowers as soon as they appear in trees. According to Mahmood Nawaz Shah, a progressive president and president of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), Hopper is more lethal at the time of flowering.
“In recent years, hopper attacks have become quite common. We do not receive research -oriented advice and evidence from the Department of Agriculture on how to deal with it,” he laments.
‘Grinding ax’
Zulfiqar Ali Kachaco has inherited a strong legacy of the mango cultivation business in the region of the lower part of Sindh. He is a member of the Kachelo Fifth Generation family, directs the mango orchards trade and diversifies it from conventional trade to electronic commerce. Ali’s family accumulates a couple of thousands of mango farms in Mirpurkhas.
“Mainly support managing orchards, since it helps to grow the economy of the local area,” he said Dawn.com. “We need to train local agricultural workers instead of trusting their counterparts from parts of the country.” It also sub -developed its farm, but alternatively. “If I let some part of the garden escape a contractor in some year, the following year I handle myself, which helps me learn the dynamics and commercial trends.”
Malformation and pet problems are regularly affecting farms, he said. “And we do not find any government solution. The only activity with which the government is associated is an annual mango festival without a productive discourse that is seen there, except the celebrations of the routine mango season,” criticizes.
Then, he lamented, the producers depend on their own wisdom or the private sector. “But then the private sector has its ax to grind,” he said, adding that government support for mango orchards, in general, is almost zero.
Nawaz de Sab agreed that government support for farmers was missing when it came to addressing diseases. During the last three years, attacks of consistent pests have been witnessed together with malformation, which makes farmers follow the extraordinarily cautious progressive agricultural protocols.
“They regularly used aerosols to control these problems,” he says, remembering that when malformation was reported in 2023, it caused substantial losses, 20 pieces to 25 percent in the general mango production.
“Learning from the past, these farmers had a better control in 2024,” says Nawaz. “This year again, the malformation was quite massive. The producers who had some knowledge applied the required aerosols, but those who lacked conscience were delayed and suffered losses.”
This is the reason why mangoes remain minors of size. The incidence of the pest attack was also quite evident in the fruit in terms of its quality.
For now, however, Sindh’s mangoes continue their trip, from branches to dishes and gift boxes, bringing a touch of sweetness that makes the heat of summer a little more bearable. In general, there is an agreement: mangoes, in all its forms, sizes and flavors, are the greatest joy of the season. But if the pressing problems that affect mango production are not approached urgently, we can soon risk losing the king of fruits.
Image of heading: A worker carries mangoes in a basket after starting them from the trees. – All Umair Ali photos
