The Punjab government in Pakistan plans to establish a mango ‘centre for excellence' in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
An agreement to establish the centre will soon be signed between the two parties in a bid to dramatically boost Pakistan's exports of high-quality mangoes, The News reported.
The centre will set up certified nurseries and provide technical assistance to mango growers in order to produce high-quality and disease-free fruit.
The USAID project in Pakistan involves a four-year strategy and GlobalGAP certification programme with a view to the making the country's mango sector more competitive.
As part of the plan, mango farmers are introduced to good agricultural practices, irrigation, post-harvest care and packaging.
Punjab Special Secretary of Agriculture Marketing Tahir Khurshid said Pakistan produced around 1.7m tonnes of mangoes each year, but export volumes were still quite low.
Only 130,000 tonnes of mangoes were exported last year and, according to Mr Khurshid, the country has the potential to ship far more.
He said the addition of facilities like hot water treatment, blast chillers, reefer containers and the latest packhouses could help increase mango shelf life, and therefore increase the amount of fruit available for export.
