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After tapping the South Korean market last year, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) is eyeing newer destinations such as Iran, Kazakhstan and China for promoting mango exports in the coming season.
Apeda has proposed to organise promotional events in these new markets and also in South Korea during May, said its Chairman DK Singh. “The idea is to carry-out wet sampling in these countries so that the consumers can have a taste of the Indian mangoes,” he said.
Among the markets that Apeda is targeting, Iran has the brightest prospects, said Singh. “There is a liking for the Indian mangoes in Iran,” he said. Further, Singh said, Kazakhstan, which is a short haul from Delhi, has the potential to emerge as a gateway for tapping the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Chinese market
With regard to prospects in China, Singh said that though the neighbouring country had granted market access to the Indian mangoes way back in 2007, shipments have not taken off for various reasons. While a couple of exporters have tried shipping mangoes to China, the quantity has not scaled up, Singh said, while adding that “the barrier has to be broken”.
India’s exports to China last year stood at a mere 1.64 tonnes. China is among the large importer of mangoes, where the fruits from Malayasia and Thailand have captured the market.
Export break-up
Last season, India shipped out 46,562 tonnes of mangoes valued at ₹346.34 crore, statistics for the April-December 2017-18 period point out. Shipments to West Asian countries — the largest market for Indian mangoes — stood at 30,985 tonnes valued at ₹233 crore during the year. In 2016-17, exports had touched a high of 52,761 tonnes valued at ₹443.66 crore.
“In the current season, we expect an increase of around 10,000 tonnes over last year. If it happens, it will be good for the domestic prices also,” Singh said. India started exporting mangoes to South Korea last year and total shipments were estimated at 59 tonnes.
Higher output
Mango harvest has already commenced in the western parts of the country, while the arrivals in South were likely to be delayed due to the erratic weather pattern of extended monsoon and winter affecting the flowering. The first advance estimates by the Agriculture Ministry put mango production for 2017-18 at 20.71 million tonnes from 2016-17’s final estimates of 19.50 million tonnes.
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