Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) Patron-in-Chief Waheed Ahmed said that 115,000 tonnes of mangoes were exported by September 15 which exceeded the previous target of 100,000 tonne achieved after four years.
Ahmed said that the price of the fruit remained stable at Rs75 to 85 per kilogramme at the farm level while exporters mostly focused on the quality and packaging standards of the edible product.
Paying extra attention to the demands of markets in United Arab Emirates, Iran Afghanistan, the United Kingdom and other European countries has also improved the overall yield, he added.
Waheed further said that, “Mango exports would continue till mid of October and may touch 130,000 tonnes by the end of the current mango season.”
It merits mention here that the export of mangoes increased from 1.3 million tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes in 2018.
“An aggressive and ambitious marketing campaign coupled with promotional activities in 25 different countries under the joint sponsorship of Pakistani foreign missions (embassies and consulates), helped us in achieving the mango export target for this season,” Waheed observed.
He said that adopting modern farming techniques has not only improved the quality of mangoes but has also increased its production.
He suggested exporters to exploit high-value markets of Japan, United States of America, South Korea and China. He also said that the export of mangoes is around 10 to 11 per cent of the total export of the horticulture sector, which can be further enhanced to 25 per cent in the next five years, thus amounting to $200 million in foreign exchange.
Pakistan exports 60 per cent of its mangoes through the sea route and out of the remaining 40 per cent, around 25 per cent are sent via land routes while 15 per cent are exported through air.