Mango season in Maharashtra has started on a sweet note this year with farmers being hopeful of a good harvest due to favourable climate. The Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) has set a target of processing and exporting 5,000 tonnes of mangoes from its facilities this year, with Alphonso and Kesar being the prime export varieties.
Sanjay Kadam, the managing director of the Board, said they aim to export the fruit to developed nations such as the USA and Europe.
With Karnataka orchards reporting severe moisture stress, the mango growers in Konkan region which include the districts Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and Raigad in Maharashtra expect to cash in on the situation and make rich dividends.
The MSAMB’s export facility at Vashi has both vapour heat treatment as well as irradiation facility necessary for exports to various countries.
Kadam said the US phytosanitary inspector is expected to arrive on April 10, after which full-fledged exports to the US would start. “The previous inspector who was supervising the exports of pomegranates had overseen the exports of 425 tonnes of mangoes already. Besides, the MSAMB aims to populate the shelves of markets in Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, and countries of the European Union,” he said.
Indian mangoes, especially the likes of Alphonso of Konkan, Kesar from Marathwada as well as Gujarat are hot export material. While the bulk of the mango exports goes to the Gulf countries, most farmers and exporters aim for the developed countries as the returns are better.
Indian farmers grow mangoes in over 2.4 lakh hectares and as per the estimates this season 21.79 million tonnes of mangoes would be produced. In 2022-23 fiscal, India exported 22,963.76 tonnes of the fruit.