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Jam Siraj, a mango orchard contractor, looks visibly disappointed at an orchard on the outskirts of Hyderabad in Tandojam. Looking at the piles of harvested Sindhri mangoes, he feels the quality is below par and unlikely to fetch a better price in the market.
His concerns are understandable. Sindh’s mango crop is once again under strain this year. Disease-hit production, difficult marketing conditions, and the war in the Middle East have all contributed to a market glut. “From a marketing point of view, it is trash,” he says, pointing to unripe mangoes with visible blackening scars plucked by his workers. Siraj, a Punjab-based contractor, is engaged in harvesting orchards in lower Sindh under contractual arrangements with orchard owners.
“Disease and pests in Sindhri mangoes on the one hand, and the closure of the Afghanistan border on the other, have undermined market prospects considerably. Contractors like me are bearing heavy losses this season, with some even walking away from deals midway to avoid further losses,” he says.
He refers to contractors who made partial payments under agreements with orchard owners but abandoned orchards after realising they would not be able to recover costs through sales, as market conditions turned unfavourable. This has left many contractors in a tight spot.
