In a major boost to mango exports from the eastern region, as many as 16 varieties of mangoes - including three GI certified Khirsapati and Lakshmanbhog (West Bengal), Zardalu (Bihar) - are being exported to Bahrain commencing Wednesday. The fruits have been sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar by APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) registered exporter, DM enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Al Jazeera group, Bahrain.

APEDA has been initiating measures to boost mango exports from non-traditional regions and states. APEDA has been conducting virtual buyer-seller meet and festival to promote mango exports, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said. 

Recently in a bid to increase mangoes exports to South Korea, APEDA in collaboration with the Indian embassy, Seoul and the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, organised a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet. APEDA has recently organized a mango festival in Berlin, Germany.

Due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, the export promotion programs were not possible to be organized physically. APEDA took a lead to organize a virtual meet to provide a platform to the exporters and importers of mangoes from India and South Korea.

For the first time in this season, India has shipped a consignment of 2.5 Metric Tonne (MTs) of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Banganapalli and Survarnarekha mangoes sourced from farmers in Krishna and Chittor districts of Andhra Pradesh

The mangoes exported to South Korea, were treated, cleaned & shipped from the APEDA assisted and registered packhouse & vapor heat treatment facility at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and exported by IFFCO Kisan SEZ (IKSEZ).

This was the first export consignment sent by IKSEZ, which is a subsidiary of IFFCO, a multi-state cooperative with a membership of 36,000 societies. There is the possibility of more exports of mangoes to South Korea this season. IFFCO Kisan SEZ has an agreement with Meejaim, South Korea for supplying 66 MTs of mango this season.

Mango in India is also referred to as the ‘king of fruits’ and referred to as Kalpavriksha (wish-granting tree) in ancient scriptures. While most of the states in India have mango plantations, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka have a major share in the total production of the fruit.

Alphonso, Kesar, Totapuri and Banganpalli are leading export varieties from India. Mango exports primarily take place in three forms: fresh mango, mango pulp, and mango slice.

Mangoes are processed by the APEDA registered packhouse facilities and then exported to various regions and countries including West Asia, European Union, USA, Japan and South Korea. (SAM).