By Azeem Ahmed Khan

Pakistan’s fruit-tree base is led by kinnow/fruiter, apples, oranges, mangoes and guava, with the Agricultural Census 2024 recording 25.77 million kino/fruiter trees, 23.20 million apple trees and 17.64 million orange trees across the country.

According to the Agricultural Census 2024 National Report available with Wealth Pakistan, 617,888 farms reported orchards, with orchard area recorded at 1.609 million acres.

The census also provides a detailed count of fruit trees by bearing and non-bearing age, showing the structure of Pakistan’s orchard economy.

Kino/fruiter emerged as the largest fruit-tree category, with 25.77 million trees. Of these, 20.12 million were of bearing age, and 5.65 million were non-bearing. The report found that 24.95 million kinnow trees were planted in organised orchards (compact plantation), while another 820,487 trees were growing individually or in scattered locations outside commercial plantations.

Apple trees stood at 23.20 million, including 18.46 million bearing-age trees and 4.75 million non-bearing trees. Of the total, 21.72 million apple trees were in compact plantations, while 1.48 million were scattered.

Orange, or Malta, was another major category, with 17.64 million trees. Bearing-age trees stood at 14.00 million, while non-bearing trees numbered 3.64 million. The census recorded 16.40 million orange trees in compact plantations and 1.24 million as scattered.

Mango also retained a strong position in the fruit economy, with 14.79 million trees reported by 224,649 farms. Of the total mango trees, 11.26 million were of bearing age, and 3.53 million were non-bearing. The census recorded 13.13 million mango trees in compact plantations and 1.67 million as scattered.

Guava trees numbered 9.76 million, reported by 258,161 farms. Bearing-age guava trees stood at 7.24 million, while 2.52 million were non-bearing. The census also recorded 8.32 million guava trees in compact plantations and 1.44 million as scattered.

Other important fruit-tree categories included peach at 8.75 million trees, pomegranate at 8.18 million, date at 7.17 million, plum at 3.35 million, apricot at 3.09 million and lemon at 2.87 million.

The report also recorded 1.38 million walnut trees, 878,708 ber trees, 802,109 olive trees, 749,558 sweet lemon trees, 740,059 persimmon/Japani amlok trees, 698,638 cheeku trees, 696,169 mulberry trees and 562,937 jaman trees.

The figures show that Pakistan’s fruit economy is spread across a wide range of orchard crops, with both traditional fruits and emerging plantation categories present in the national count. The large number of non-bearing trees in several categories also points to future production potential as younger plantations mature.

Credit: INP-WealthPk