Not just pests, severe summer heat may affect mango exports

With the summer heat taking a toll on mango production this year, the Mango Development Board and growers are chalking out measures to ensure exports are not affected.

Since this year is the “On Season” (year of good yield), mango production was expected to be 14 lakh tonnes, compared to last year's 8-9 lakh tonnes. But rising summer heat has not only affected the size of the fruit but has also brought down production by around two lakh tonnes.

Smaller mangoes are not suitable for export. Fruit meant for exports should weigh between 200 and 450 grams and varies for alphonso, dasheri, badami and mallika. Most alphonso mangoes come from Ramanagaram, Kolar, Dharwad and Belagavi and each fruit should weigh at least 200 grams. “These areas have experienced extreme heat, bringing down the size of some fruits and production in some trees,” said M Kamalakshi Rajanna, chairperson of the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation.

“We do not want to cut down on exports this year, especially when the ban has been revoked and production is good. The demand for mangoes has also started. The summer heat has also ensured that the fruit is sweeter. Thus, some of the fruits which weigh less will be diverted for domestic consumption and those with proper weight and free of infection will be exported,” she added.

There is a demand for dasheri, mallika and malgova in the USA. European and Gulf countries are major markets for alphonso, while alphonso and dasheri are in demand in Malaysia. Initial treatment of mangoes, based on the export destination, has already started. USA and Malaysia demand gamma irradiation treatment for mangoes while Japan demands vapour heat treatment. These special treatments are in addition to basic hot water, fruit fly disinfection, packaging, labelling and palletisation and ripening chamber treatments. In the domestic market, the mangoes are in demand for canning, pulping, pickling and slicing, she said.

Karnataka is one of the top three mango producing states after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Karnataka, mango is grown on two lakh hectares and the major mango growing regions are Kolar, Ramanagaram, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Dharwad, Bengaluru rural, Mandya, Belagavi, Mysuru, Davangere, Chikkamgaluru, Shivamogga and Chitradurga.
DH News service

Assurance on quality to Malaysia
Following the request from Malaysian government for import of mangoes from Karnataka, Anita Puri, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, wrote to Faridah Aini Muhammad, Director, Plant Biosecurity Division, Department of Agriculture, Malaysia on April 21, 2016, assuring that mangoes exported from India were of superior quality.

The letter, a copy of which is with Deccan Herald, states: “You are aware that the import regulation of Malaysia requires additional deceleration in Phytosanitary Certificate stating that mangoes were sourced from areas free of seed weevil. I assure you that nut and pulp weevil in mango can be easily exterminated through irradiation treatment. India is exporting mangoes to USA using irradiation method. Thus, we request that mangoes sourced from Karnataka free from seed weevil be considered for import to Malaysia.”