The Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) has set a target to export 2,500 ton of the famed Alphonso and Kesar varieties of mango from the Konkan and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra. According to Sunil Pawar, managing director, MSAMB, the total export of mangoes from the state would go beyond 50,000 ton.
Last year, about 1,200 ton were exported from these regions. “Here, we are specifically talking about mango exports from the facilities run by MSAMB. We have three facilities for vapour heat treatment, irradiation and hot water treatment and we expect some 2,500 ton to be exported from these facilities,” Pawar told FE. There are over 44 treatment facilities across the country.
MSAMB has established export facilitation centres at Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Jalna, Latur, Beed and Vashi. The board had been holding regular workshops with both farmers and buyers to encourage exports.
Government agencies had worked to put in place MangoNet — an online traceability system that registers mango growers and exporters and enable importers and supermarkets in the European Union to check complete details of their shipments — on the lines of the successful ‘Grapenet’. There are some 25,000 mango growers in the state and of these, 8,500 are registered on MangoNet. Apeda has made it mandatory for exporters to pick mangoes for export only from growers registered on MangoNet.