India plans to double the volume of its mango exports, which currently account for less than one per cent of the total volume produced by the country.
Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority General Manager AS Rawat told the Kaleej Times the government was developing infrastructure to link production areas with markets.
“The linkage of production hubs with markets will help to get better prices for produce and it will also encourage the producer to produce more quality products” he told the newspaper. “All the measures are being taken to increase the export of mangoes and logistic support is one of the sectors where the government needs to focus,” said Mr Rawat.
According to the publication, India is the world’s largest mango producer, generating around 15m tonnes of the fruit annually – over 50 per cent of world production. The country, however, exports less than 1 per cent of its total production.
Mr Rawat explained that export volumes could be grown most effectively by increasing the length of the country’s export season.
“India’s production period is around eight to nine months, but we export only up to three months of this production,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates is the largest importer of Indian mangoes and accounts for almost 50 per cent of the total value of India’s exports, which reached US$50m in the 2009-10 season.
