Export of mangoes to South Korea picks up

Hyderabad, July 4:  

After initial hiccups, especially related to packing and storage, mango exports to South Korea has picked up. More than 40 tonnes of the ‘King of fruits’ have been flown to the markets in Seoul so far.

The issues that arose after the first few consignments were not about the quality of the mangoes. They were concerning procedures, packaging, cold storage, shelf life and low temperature issues, which were ironed out, said T Sudhakar, DGM of APEDA (Agricultural & Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority).

APEDA and Korean authorities organised a buyer-seller meet in the Korean capital on May 24 and 25, where several concerns were discussed and clarified. Mango varieties were shipped from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai etc and the demand was very encouraging. There will be a few more consignments exported as the season was coming to an end he told BusinessLine.

A few consignments contained varieties that had a short shelf life and were not packed in boxes to withstand the low temperatures. This has been addressed subsequently. Varieties such as Alphonso, Kesar, Suvarnarekha, Banganapalli etc have been exported. A consignment of 2.5 tonnes of the Suvarnarekha variety was flown via the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at the end of May.

The Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Pvt Ltd coordinated with the farmer community in Viziangaram, APEDA, National Plant Protection Organisation, Korean Delegation and Plant Quarantine to help the exporters meet the stringent norms. After that two more consignments with a total of 4.6 tonnes of mangoes have been flown from here.

Indian exports of mangoes are mainly to West Asia, the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Exports to Japan, South Asian countries and the EU have been low due to import issues there.

South Korea joined this year after carrying out pest risk analysis and specifying vapour heat treatment in specified temperature conditions . Efforts are on to reach the mangoes to Iran, Mauritius etc.

According to Sudhakar, Andhra Pradesh has accounted for 10 tonnes out of the 40 plus tonnes of the fruit exported so far. In the next week a few more consignments will go as Korean inspectors and importers were in Rajahmundry to source the mangoes directly from growers after due diligence.

Similarly, Kesar and Banaganapalli varieties have been readied from Tirupathi. The overall exports of mangoes is expected to touch a high of 50,000 tonnes this season, going by APEDA estimates.

(This article was published on July 4, 2017)

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