Though the Indian mangoes are among the costliest in the US, the biggest importer of the fruit with the annual consumption 250,000 tonnes, officials says the cost of a box of 12 Indian mangoes which costs between $30 and $35 could be brought down to around $15.
After lifting of the 18-year ban on the import of the fruit from India, mangoes worth $1 million were exported to the US last year and the figure is likely to go up to around $7 million this year, Asit Tripathy chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), told reporters here.
He said mangoes are irradiated before being exported to the United States as per the requirements of the regulators and that adds to the cost
