Mangoes are typically a source of pride for Pakistanis and a vital source of revenue, but this season’s harvest has been severely damaged by parasites and harsh weather, which farmers attribute to climate change.
Muhammad Yusuf, a farmer, bemoaned the unpredictable weather while wearing a white and orange scarf around his head in the intense heat.
Following an unusually protracted winter, the nation saw its wettest April in decades, and it is currently enduring a heatwave with highs of 52 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Many buds simply died, and the buds didn’t flower on time. Yusuf, who has dedicated half of his life to the cultivation of mangoes, stated that those that began to grow were afflicted with the black hopper parasite.
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Approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Karachi, the commercial center, Yusuf, who is now over 60, claimed that “climate change has wreaked havoc” in his town of Tando Allahyar.
Pakistan is the fourth-largest mango producer in the world, and about 25% of its GDP comes from the agricultural sector.
Arsalan, who oversees a 900-acre mango plantation in Tando Ghulam Ali, further south, observed the damage as soon as this week’s harvest got underway.
“We have production losses of 15 to 20 percent, and the picking has only just started so this figure will surely increase,” stated the 32-year-old.
“The mangoes turn yellow from the outside but remain underripe or overripe inside,” he said.
Grower and exporter of mangoes from Tando Ghulam Ali Ziaul Haq claimed that the “many attacks on fruit” by pests were unheard of.
“This, in our history, has never happened before,” he stated to AFP.