UP keen on mango exports

To hold buyers’-sellers’ meet in Mumbai

In the backdrop of expected bumper mango crop this season, the Uttar Pradesh government is keen to augment mango exports from the state. To seek the cooperation of industry, the UP Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Parishad) is organising a buyers’-sellers’ meet in Mumbai next month.

The meet to be hosted by Mandi Parishad and UP State Horticultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Hofed) in the first week of April will be attended by the country’s top mango exporters, primarily based in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

“We will seek inputs from exporters to help us increase mango exports from UP and also consider their demands for acceptance,” Parishad director Rajesh Kumar Singh told Business Standard.

According to preliminary estimates, mango production in UP is likely to touch almost 300,000 tonnes this season, up from 50,000 tonnes last year. The state produces 300-400 varieties of mango and the total acreage is touted at 17,000 hectares.

Besides, Dussehri mango, primarily grown in the Malihabad region of Lucknow, has been registered under the Geographical Indication (GI) Act.

The Parishad has also proposed to set up an irradiation plant in Lucknow to facilitate mango exports to the USA.

“We plan an irradiation plant in Lucknow to sanitise mango meant for export to the US. Our application is pending for approval before the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,” Singh informed.

Irradiation is a method of sterilising and disinfecting food using ionising radiation to kill micro-organisms and insects, which also increases its shelf life. Mango export to the USA is subject to irradiation treatment. The plant, likely to cost Rs 5 crore, could be used for disinfecting other food items during the mango lean season, Singh added. Indian mango is mainly exported to the Gulf and South East Asian countries including Singapore. However, exports from Pakistan are giving tough competition to the domestic varieties due to its proximity to the Arab world, which substantially cuts transportation costs.