A potential new irradiation protocol may give Indian mangoes another run at the Australian market after the false start over the past few seasons.
Australian officials recently visited India to inspect an irradiation facility in Lasalgaon in Maharashtra with an eye to allowing mangoes treated at the plant to pass through Australian quarantine, according to a report in the Economic Times.
Officials from the two countries are currently working together on a standard operating procedure (SOP) for irradiation of mangoes for export to the Australian market.
A finalised irradiation protocol could offer an alternative to the current vapour heat treatment (VHT) protocol. The current protocol was put in place in 2008, but trial shipments of VHT fruit have struggled with quality problems, and India’s mangoes have not gained a foothold in the Australian market.
The revision to the protocol allowing irradiation has been in the works since 2010. If an SOP can be finalised this season, the Times reported trial shipments of the Chausa and Langra (or Langda) varieties could take place as early as July.
The irradiation plant in Lasalgaon is the same facility used to treat mangoes for export to the US market.
