Balochistan is set to grow nearly four-fifths of Pakistan’s entire mash crop in the coming season, holding on to its position as the country’s leading producer of the pulse even as its own harvest slips slightly, according to official estimates released by the federal government on Wednesday.
The province is projected to produce 4,100 tonnes of mash in 2026-27, or about 79 per cent of the national total of 5,190 tonnes. Farmers in Balochistan are expected to sow the crop over 4,800 hectares, which is 75 per cent of the country’s total mash area of 6,400 hectares for the Kharif season. The cultivated area is set to rise by 3.7 per cent from 4,630 hectares last year, although production is forecast to fall by 2.8 per cent from 4,220 tonnes.
Yields slip, but stay above the national average
Balochistan’s average yield is estimated at 854 kilograms per hectare, down from 911 kilograms in the previous year but still above the national average of 810 kilograms. The figures were reported by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan and match official documents cited by Wealth Pakistan.
The picture is very different in Punjab, which is expected to see the sharpest fall in mash production. Output there is projected to plunge by 52.5 per cent to 280 tonnes, down from 590 tonnes last year, as the area under the crop shrinks to 700 hectares from 1,300 and average yield drops to 400 kilograms per hectare from 453.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is forecast to produce around 790 tonnes, slightly below the 800 tonnes recorded in 2025-26, but its average yield of 906 kilograms per hectare is the highest among the four provinces. Sindh is the only province expected to record growth on both fronts, with its cultivated area rising by 27.3 per cent and output by 23.1 per cent, although from a very small base of 30 hectares and around 20 tonnes.
At the national level, mash production is projected to decline by 7.7 per cent to 5,190 tonnes in 2026-27 from 5,620 tonnes a year earlier. The area under cultivation is expected to contract to 6,400 hectares from 6,840, while average yield is forecast to ease by 1.5 per cent to 810 kilograms per hectare from 822. The estimates point to production becoming even more concentrated in Balochistan, even as a shrinking harvest in Punjab and modest falls elsewhere weigh on the country’s overall output of the Kharif pulse.
