<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Mango farmers in Pakistan say production of the prized fruit has fallen by up to 40 percent in some areas because of high temperatures and water shortages in a country identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The arrival of mango season in Pakistan is eagerly anticipated, with around two dozen varieties arriving through the hot, humid summers.</div><div><br></div><div>This year, however, temperatures rose sharply in March — months earlier than usual — followed by heatwaves that damaged crops and depleted water levels in canals farmers depend on for irrigation.</div><div><br></div><div>“Usually I pick 24 truckloads of mangoes... this year I have only got 12,” said Fazle Elahi, counting the bags lined up by his farm.</div><div><br></div><div>“We are doomed.”</div><div><br></div><div>The country is among the world’s top exporters of mangoes, harvesting nearly two million tons annually across southern parts of Punjab and Sindh.</div><div><br></div><div>The total harvest is yet to be measured, but production is already short by at least 20 to 40 percent in most areas, according to Gohram Baloch, a senior official at the Sindh provincial government’s agriculture department.</div><div><br></div><div>Umar Bhugio, who owns swaths of orchards outside Mirpur Khas — locally known as the city of mangoes — said his crops received less than half the usual amount of water this year.</div><div><br></div><div>“Mango growers confronted two problems this year: one was the early rise in temperatures, and secondly the water shortage,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, a problem made worse by poor infrastructure and mismanagement of resources.</div><div><br></div><div>It also ranks as the country eighth most-vulnerable to extreme weather due to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index compiled by environmental NGO Germanwatch.</div><div><br></div><div>Floods, droughts and cyclones in recent years have killed and displaced thousands, destroyed livelihoods and damaged infrastructure.</div><div><br></div><div>“The early rise of temperatures increased the water intake by crops. It became a contest among different crops for water consumption,” said food security expert Abid Suleri, head of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).</div><div><br></div><div>A rise in temperature is generally expected in the mango belt in early May, which helps the fruit ripen before picking starts in June and July.</div><div><br></div><div>But the arrival of summer as early as March damaged the mango flowers, a key part of the reproductive cycle.</div><div><br></div><div>“The mango should weigh over 750 grams but this year we picked very undersized fruit,” Elahi said.</div><div><br></div><div>Known in South Asia as the “king of fruits,” the mango originated in the Indian subcontinent.</div><div><br></div><div>The country’s most treasured variety is the golden-yellow Sindhri, known for its rich flavour and juicy pulp. - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>