In a major boost to mango exports from the eastern region, 16 varieties of mangoes including three GI certified Khirsapati & Lakshmanbhog (West Bengal), Zardalu (Bihar) are being exported to Bahrain starting from Wednesday while South Korea has also emerged as an important destination, the Commerce Ministry said.

The fruits have been sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar by APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) along with DM enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Al Jazeera group, Bahrain.

APEDA has been initiating measures to boost mango exports from the non-traditional regions and states. Virtual buyer seller meetings and festivals to promote mango exports have been conducted as part of the promotion programme.

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Mango exports to South Korea have also picked up. Due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, the export promotion programmes were not possible to be organized physically. APEDA took a lead to organize 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 tonnes of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Banganapalli and Survarnarekha varieties of 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 & vapour heat treatment facility at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and exported by IFFCO Kisan SEZ (IKSEZ). 

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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 a possibility of more exports of mangoes to South Korea this season. IFFCO Kisan SEZ has an agreement with Meejaim, South Korea for supplying 66 metric tonnes  of mango this season.

Mango in India is also referred to as the ‘king of fruits’ and 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 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 the Middle-east, European Union, USA, Japan and South Korea.