AFP, Tando Allahyar

Beneath the scorching sun in Pakistan’s southern mango belt, labourers balance on tree branches, working at a swift pace to throw the freshly picked fruit into sacks held ready by farmhands waiting below.

Though mango season is well underway, far less of the fruit will be bound for the lucrative export market than usual, with Pakistan’s agriculturally dependent economy caught in the crosshairs of the Middle East crisis that its government has helped mediate.

An initial deal between the warring sides announced by Pakistan this week has come too late for this mango season, which began in June in southern Sindh province.

Mango traders told AFP they expect export sales to fall at least 30 percent this year due to dampened demand in key markets, including the Gulf, and soaring shipping costs.

Adding to the financial pain, local households struggling with a spike in inflation emanating from the regional crisis are holding off on buying the fruit, depressing domestic sales.

In the mango-growing heartland of Tando Allahyar, Mohammad Shakeel manages orchards that grow the golden-yellow Sindhri variety, named after the province where it flourishes and famous for its rich flavour and juicy pulp.

He feared his business would fall short of generating the income needed to cover the upfront cost of the orchard leases, noting some had abandoned their contracts entirely.

“So many losses have been incurred, the contractors have even left their advance money,” Shakeel said.

KING OF FRUITS

Known in South Asia as the “king of fruits”, Pakistan grows over two dozen varieties of mango that normally earn around $110 million in international sales a year -- making the country the world’s fourth-largest exporter.

The challenges sparked by the Middle East war underscore the geopolitical vulnerability of Pakistan’s economy, heavily dependent on an agriculture sector already struggling with the impacts of climate change.

“Almost 80 percent of mango export is to the Gulf region, Iran and Afghanistan,” Waheed Ahmed, Chief Patron of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporter Association, told AFP, noting conflict had gripped all of those countries in recent months.