JAZAN — Saudi Arabia’s Jazan Region has made huge steps in developing the cultivation of mango and expanding its production by increasing the number of farmers and farms.

One of the targets of the Saudi Vision 2030, the achievement was made through a sustainable agricultural rural development program that was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture with the aim of improving the agricultural rural sector and contributing to raising the living conditions of rural families and increasing the production efficiency, improving the lifestyle, and realizing food security.

The mango production in Jazan was 18,000 tons annually in May 2005 with the launch of the first edition of the annual mango festival. The region had 250,000 mango trees only at the time but it produced 30 varieties of mangoes. Currently, the region has 19,109 farms with more than 1,000,000 mango trees and the annual production jumped to 65,000 tons annually.

The Agricultural Research Center in Jazan contributed to developing mango farming.

Planting mangos started in Jazan in 1973 as an experiment. The modern farming started in 1983 by introducing new varieties from the US, Kenya, Egypt and India, which reached 60 kinds.

The mango production season starts in mid-March and peaks in May, when mango production is characterized by high quality and competitiveness in various global markets, and high ability of shipping and exportation.

Mango farming is spread across several governorates in Jazan Region. Siba Governorate hosts one of the biggest mango farms with more than 30,000 trees whose production exceeds 600 tons annually. — SPA