Description of south Punjab culture sans mangoes incomplete

MULTAN: Mango festivals and mango feasts on arrival of Sawan (rainy season), and propensity of huge mango gifting by local people are unique features of culturally rich south Punjab, which is associated not only in the country but also abroad especially in the Middle East countries.The introduction of the south Punjab sans mangoes, the king of fruits, is incomplete. Mango orchards are located over thousands of acres in the south Punjab. Multan is at top in mangoes cultivation. Mango orchards are located over 31,000 hectares in the district.However, Rahimyar Khan, Muzaffargarh and Khanewal are at second, third and fourth position with cultivation area 26,000, 19,000 and 14,000 hectares respectively. Pakistani mangoes, matchless in taste and aroma, their exports if enhanced can bring a handsome amount of foreign exchange to the national kitty. Mango Festival, an excellent event of Multan, is being organised formally since 2016 with an aim to offer recreation to local citizens and promote the fruit at national and international level.Scores of ambassadors from different countries are invited in the festival every year, informed Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture (MNSUA) Vice-Chancellor Dr Asif Ali while talking here on Sunday.The main idea for inviting the ambassadors was to make them aware of exotic taste of the local mangoes, he told. Similarly, the ambassadors also used to visit Mango orchards for recreational purpose, which was important to promote agriculture tourism in the region, he said.In Mango Festival, over 100 varieties of the fruit were put on display, he continued. The festival would be organised on July 5, 2019, he told. The VC said that the Mango Festival yields positive results as it help to offer a platform for knowledge sharing among growers. The growers interact with one another and share their experiences, he elaborated.Whereas it provides recreation, awareness, business promotion and marketing techniques to growers, besides, it was also commendable acknowledgment of the growers labour and their contribution to the country’s uplift, the VC remarked.Dr Asif informed that growers learnt a lot from the festival. A good number of progressive growers enhanced their income as they improved orchards management, mango packing, identification of high end markets, he added. The high end markets offer lucrative prices as compared to other general markets, he added.The growers, themselves, were taking interest in self-marketing, he continued. Earlier, they used to sell the commodity to contractors and earn less amounts, he told.Now, they started self-marketing and also introduced their own mango brands, Asif Ali maintained. The customers were ready to pay more in high end markets as they preferred quality and attractive presentation, he maintained.In festivals, a competition on mango dishes was also arranged in which students from various universities prepare different mango dishes, the VC said. Many new mango dishes surface in these competitions, which were greatly lauded by not only local citizens but also the ambassadors of different countries, he added.Mango salsa, mango Halwa, mango yogurt, Mango Lassi and scores of other dishes were presented in the festivals, he said. About mango marketing in foreign countries, the VC stated that Pakistan also traced new markets in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mango feasts were also common phenomenon in the month of Sawan, a month popular for rainy spell, in the region, he informed.The people along with their families and friends use to visit different swimming pools and tube-wells to enjoy mango parties, he added. Sajid Qureshi, a mango grower, informed that a good number of citizens visit his tube-well during mango season.They used to bath and enjoy mango parties at the tube-wells for many incessant hours, he added. Their excitement level was out of description, he elaborated. Mango Growers Association president Tariq informed that many citizens used to purchase huge quantity of mangoes for gifting purpose during the peak season.He stated that Multan was a city of gift-givers. He also suggested that growers could earn handsome amount by value-addition.He said that they could export mango pulp and dried mangoes. Employees of a private courier service while talking here said that hundreds of boxes of mangoes were delivered across the country on daily basis.During Mango season, the Multan emerged as a gifting city, they told. They informed that local growers and citizens send mango gift to their relatives and friends especially during months of June, July and August.Mango Research Station (MRS) Shujabad Director Abdul Ghaffar said that growers should take more interest in exports of the fruit. He stated that there was no match of Pakistani mangoes in taste and aroma. Pakistan was exporting nearly six to seven per cent of its produce, he informed.He suggested the growers and exporters to explore new markets and export maximum mango in order to earn huge amounts against the quality production.This would not only help changing lifestyle of growers but also help securing maximum foreign exchange, he added.

from The News International - Peshawar https://ift.tt/2YkzdBs