Teaching Note: Legacy at risk: the partnership dilemma at Dr Mughal’s date farm

This case study explores the complex decision-making dilemma of Dr Farooque Ahmed Mughal, a recently retired rural physician, who must determine the future of his eight-acre family date farm in Shikarpur, Sindh, Pakistan. Once a source of family pride and stable income, the farm declined substantially under a five-year informal lease. Neglected irrigation, unskilled labor and poor pest management left the land underperforming. With no immediate family support and limited capacity to manage operations himself, Mughal must now decide how to act before the upcoming pollination season. A promising proposal arrives from Ahsan Khan, a younger farmer with a strong...