SWEET FRUITS OF PAKISTAN

SWEET FRUITS OF PAKISTAN

Some fruits grown in pakistan are: Orange, Mango, Apple, Apricot, Banana, Cherry, Dates, Guava, Peach, Lemon, Litchi, Papaya, Olive, mulbery, Plums, Pear, Pomegranate, Strawberry, Sweet lime, and a lot of dry fruits including Almonds, Pistachios and Walnuts.

Orange
Pakistan is the sixth largest producer of Kinow (mandarin) and oranges in the world, with 2.1 million tons. Pakistan world mandarin and oranges market share during the year 1997 was 0.9 percent and 3.6 percent in terms of value and volume respectively.
Pakistan is also the largest producer of ‘Citrus Reticula’ variety (Kinow), this unique variety of citrus is indigenous to this part of the world. According to an estimate approx. 95 percent of the total Kinow produced all over the world is grown in Pakistan.
The soil and climatic conditions in Pakistan have given the Kinnow a unique flavor which distinguishes it from other comparable mandarins grown in the world. An ideal condition for growing kinnow includes abundance of water, rich nitrogen content in the soil and relatively cool weather. Winter in the plains of Punjab province provides an excellent atmosphere for this fruit and the resulting fruit is sweet and has a very distinct taste.

Mango ( آم )
Pakistan produces over 150 varieties of mango. Mango is the fruit par excellence of Subcontinent. Pakistan is an important mango growing country in the world. The soil and climatic conditions of Pakistan are highly suitable for mango cultivation. According to FAO production year book of 2001, Pakistan stands FIFTH among mango growing countries of the World.
Mango enjoys second position after citrus in Pakistan. It is grown in the province of Punjab over an area of 48413 hectares out of 94121 hectares in the country (MINFAL 99- 2000). Most of the remaining acreage is planted in Sindh. At present, (1999-2000) the total annual production of fruits in Pakistan is 58,46,342 tons. Even if all of this production reaches to the consumers, per head per day availability of fruit is meagre 114 grams. Fresh and processed fruits and vegetables export make up less than 1 percent of Pakistan’s total export. That is a matter of concern when the need for diversification of export is badly felt.
The mango from Pakistan is well known for its taste and quality abroad. More than 53,000 tons of mango is exported to neighbouring and European countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, France, Malayasia and Singapore etc. fetching foreign exchange. Langra, Dusehri, Samar Behisht, Chaunsa, Anwar Ratol are important varieties grown in Punjab. Sindhri, Bagan Pali, Suwarneka, Neelum and Gulab Khas are leading ones from Sindh.

Watermelon ( تربوز )
It’s an all time favorite fruit for most Pakistanis especially because of its sweet and refreshing quality to combat the deadly heat. And the feeling one gets if given the middle part, without the seeds, is quite invigorating

Falsay (Grewia) ( فالسہ )
Native to Southern Asia, it’s famously used as a chilled summer drink, or eaten with sprinkled black salt. Oh, the sweet and sour taste of this fruit is heavenly!
It is a shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall. The leaves are broadly rounded, 5–18 cm long and broad, with a petiole 1–1.5 cm long. The flowers are venkanna in cymes of several together, the individual flowers about 2 cm diameter, yellow, with five large (12 mm) sepals and five smaller (4–5 mm) petals. The fruit is an edible drupe 5–12 mm diameter, purple to black when ripe.