India displays its mango varieties in Dubai

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (​APEDA) on Monday in participation with the India embassy and LuLu group, displayed a variety of North Indian mangoes in Dubai. The varieties include Chausa & Langra.

New Delhi: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (​APEDA) in partnership with the Indian embassy and LuLu group, on Monday, displayed the varieties of North Indian mangoes exported as part of a promotion programme in Dubai. The APEDA in a bid to boost mango exports from non-traditional regions and states, had even initiated virtual buyer-seller meets and festivals. Recently, the apex body set-up by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India had also held promotion events in Bahrain, Qatar's Doha and South Korea. This year India has been able to export mangoes despite the Covid19 pandemic from the non-traditional northern and eastern regions of the country.

Succulent mango varieties such as Chausa & Langra, where showcased in the United Arab Emirates, in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh mandi board. This step would also help boost mango exports from India's eastern region to the middle east nations. Recently, mangoes with Geographical Identification (GI) such as Fazli variety from West Bengal's Malda district was exported to Bahrain, by a Kolkata based firm. In Qatar, APEDA had showcased 9 mango varieties which includes the GI certified Khirsapati (Malda, West Bengal), Lakkhanbhog (Malda, West Bengal), Fazli (Malda, West Bengal), Dusshheri (Malihabad, Uttar Pradesh) and Amrapali and Chausa (Malda, West Bengal) and Langda (Nadiya, West Bengal). All of the above varieties have been exported from India, according to APEDA.

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A similar event was also held in June this year at Bahrain wherein 16 mango varieties, which include three GI certified - Khirsapati & Lakshmanbhog (West Bengal), Zardalu (Bihar) were displayed. These varities were sold through 13 stores of the LuLu group in Bahrain, and were sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar by a APEDA registered exporter. In Berlin, Germany too a similar event was held.

In South Korea, APEDA in collaboration with the Indian embassy, Seoul and Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, had organised a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet. India had ferried a consignment of 2.5 Metric Tonne (MTs) of GI certified Banganapalli & Survarnarekha mangoes sourced from farmers in Krishna & Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh to South Korea.

Mango in India is known as the 'King of fruits' and is referred to as the Kalpavriksha (a tree that fulfills wishes) as mentioned in ancient scriptures. States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka contribute a major chunk in mango production, apart from other states. In India, the leading export varieties are Alphonso, Kesar, Totapuri and Banganpalli, with the exports being categorized into fresh mango, mango pulp, and mango slice.

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