Latest on mango map: China

In the mango orchards of Marathwada8217;s villages 8212; one of the giant outdoor larders that makes India the world8217;s largest mango ...

In the mango orchards of Marathwada8217;s villages 8212; one of the giant outdoor larders that makes India the world8217;s largest mango producer 8212; it now matters how the Chinese spell Alphonso or Kesar.

Here in obscure dot-like villages in central Maharashtra, the centuries-old fruit is making market history with mainland China, with the tricky Chinese script written on boxes bound far north by sea.

8216;8216;We think the Chinese will develop a taste for our mango because they are Asian,8217;8217; says Rajendra Baldawa, who has a BSc degree under his belt, in Pimpalwadi village, Aurangabad, 400 km from Mumbai.

In a season when coastal Konkan counts Alphonso losses from unseasonal showers 8212; the State Agriculture Commissioner S.K. Goel calls this a 8216;8216;bad year8217;8217; for Maharashtra8217;s crop 8212; there is this one story of promise.

Twenty tonnes of the oblong, light apricot-coloured Kesar variety of mangoes from rural Marathwada are being dressed up 8212; dunked, for instance, in 47 degree hot water 8212; for an 18-day sea voyage to Shanghai and Beijing. Maharashtra8217;s first mango export to China will compete with Philippine and Thai harvest on sale in the Hulian supermarket chain.

Back in Marathwada, mango growers who received fixed rates of Rs 35-50 per kg for export, gravely discuss 8212; in Marathi 8212; the tastes of a global palate. Will the Chinese take to our mango faster than the 8216;8216;Londoners8217;8217; did, years ago?

With a state government team, two Chinese 8216;8216;inspectors8217;8217; visited the Baldawas8217; 20-acre orchard last year. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know how to pronounce their names,8217;8217; Rajendra admits. 8216;8216;This is the sixth year Londoners will eat our farm8217;s mangoes, but we hear that they still don8217;t know how to cut it.8217;8217;

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By June 1, from a port near Shanghai, Marathwada8217;s mangoes 8212; a uniform size of 350-400 gm each 8212; in cardboard boxes with Chinese lettering, will travel by road for sale in supermarkets.

8216;8216;After permission arrived last year, this is our first commercial sale in China,8217;8217; says Ram Kharche, MD, Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board MSAMB, Pune. 8216;8216;We plan to send two more containers by sea and air.8217;8217;

The Chinese clients sent a script for the packaging. 8216;8216;We copied it carefully,8217;8217; says Sunil Borade, advisor exports MSAMB. He was in Beijing and Shanghai for mango promotion last year. 8216;8216;For UK consumers, we have to send booklets on how to cut and eat the mango. I think the Chinese won8217;t need that.8217;8217;