Odisha bags mango export contract from Finland

The horticulture department of the state government, which has been promoting mango cultivation on commercial basis for last few years, has received mango export order from Finland. The overseas sales will take place once the Bhubaneswar airport starts functioning as an international airport.

"We are promoting the sales and export of local mangoes. We have got an order from Finland. The quantum of export is expected to go up after the functioning of the international airport," said Sanjiv Chadha, director of horticulture.

The Biju Patnaik regional airport is expected to get the international airport tag by the end of July.

To facilitate global and domestic trading of mango, the department has set up a company called as Dhenkanal Fruits and Vegetables Marketing Company Limited having processing and packaging facility. Currently, the state is dispatching mangoes to Delhi, Utter Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal.

In 2011-12, Odisha produced 715,179 tonne mangoes cultivated on 142,358 ha of fruit bearing area. The production was 642,010 tonne in 2010-11 and 577,476 tonne in 2009-10. Odisha is ranked as sixth largest mango growing state in India, which accounts for over 60 per cent of global mango output of 25 million tonne.