After two years of low export volumes, mango traders are hopeful of a good year, with some hoping that the export volume this year will cross even the average 50,000-ton export. A bumper crop in many parts of the country as well as demand from overseas markets are expected to give some momentum to exports. Kesar, Baiganpalli and Alphonso are among the most popular varieties of mangoes exported from the country. Sunil Pawar, managing director of Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB), said they have given the green signal to exporters to start their operations. The arrival of a phytosanitary inspector from the US, at the Vashi irradiation facility in Navi Mumbai, was a major boost for exporters. Mangoes headed to the USA have to be irradiated before they are exported. For countries like Japan and those in Europe, hot water treatment and vapour heat treatment are prescribed. MSAMB officials have earmarked 50 ton of exports from the Vapour Heat Treatment facility for Japan and South Korea each, and 200 ton for European Union countries. This year, a total of 18,677 mango farms have registered with the MangoNet trace-ability system of the Agricultural Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA). The largest number of registrations are from Karnataka (8,768), followed by Maharashtra (4,269) and other states. The last two years have been exceptionally bad for the export sector due to Covid-19 and global supply chain constrains. The absence of an inspector, who could not travel to India due to the pandemic, had halted access to the US export market. For the financial year 2020-21, India had exported 27,187.53 tonnes of mangoes, a sharp drop from the 49,658.97 ton exported in 2019-20. While some mango growers in Maharashtra and Karnataka are expecting a bumper harvest this year, late flowering in some regions may lead to a gap in arrivals. Currently, in domestic markets, Alphonso mangoes from Konkan coast are trading between Rs 800-1,200 Arrivals in the major markets of Pune and Mumbai, however, have been steady. Now, MSMAB has planned to hold a meet between buyers and sellers to help traders and farmers get better price for their produce.
