US mango strategy: Pakistan to boost its mango exports

By Shahid Abbasi May 25th, 2012 ( No Comment )

Karachi: Mango farmers across Pakistan continue their partnership with USAID to maximize yields, improve product quality, introduce better packaging, and create market linkages.

All these advancements are helping Pakistani mango growers tap into new export markets with each passing season. As the mango season for 2012 begins, this partnership continues to bear fruit.

Seven mango farms from Sindh are already scheduled to send commercial shipments to high-end markets across the globe in June of this year. More farms will participate in commercial shipments as soon as harvesting begins in Punjab. USAID has signed Infrastructure Upgrade Agreements (IUAs) with 15 mango farmers across Pakistan on a cost-sharing basis to build pack houses. USAID has also provided assistance to 15 farmers in achieving GlobalG.A.P. certification under a similar cost-share agreement and has planned to increase this number by the end of this season by adding another 12 certified farms.

The USAID Mango Program is currently in its third year and this year the program is specifically concentrating on enhancing the market linkages for Pakistan’s mango sector.

Ghulam Sarwar Abro of Mustafa Agricultural Farms in Kotri (Sindh) has been a partner with USAID’s Mango Program. “We are confident that with USAID’s support, all of the ground work has been done. We have the required standards, infrastructure, and linkages to tap the international markets on a competitive footing.”