Beijing granted market access to the Indian fruit in 2004, but it is yet to become commercially viable

India is planning to organise a ‘mango festival’ in China and South Korea for the first time to boost exports of the 'king of fruits'.

Though China had granted market access to Indian mangoes in 2004, it is yet to become ‘effective’ and commercially meaningful, official sources told The Hindu, adding that China’s import of the fruit from India has so far been minuscule. In 2015-16, India’s exports of mangoes to China were worth just ₹24,000 out of India’s total mango exports of ₹317.1 crore. This was the case in volume terms as well — of the total mango exports of 36,329 MT in 2015-16, China accounted for only 0.5 MT.

To increase exports to China, the plan now is to hold a ‘mango festival’ in Beijing to promote Indian mangoes sources said, emulating the example of Thailand which saw a surge in demand for its fruits after it showcased them.

Exporters lukewarm

Chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Devendra Kumar Singh, told The Hindu that while talks were on for organising an Indian mango festival in China, not many Indian exporters had shown interest in it.

Meanwhile, an APEDA trade notice to exporters on May 9 said: “In continuation of the opening of Chinese market for Indian mangoes in 2004, APEDA took up the issue through Embassy of India in China for addition of more mango pack houses to be registered with Chinese authorities.”

The APEDA said South Korea had opened its market for Indian mangoes for the 2017 season. Mr. Singh said the Indian mango festival is slated to be held in South Korea during May 25-27 and around ten leading Indian exporters of the fruit will participate.

He added that there were also plans to hold an Indian mango festival in Mumbai on June 5-6 where around 30 international buyers will take part. These include ten each from China and Iran, four each from Japan and Mauritius and two from Australia.

According to worldsrichestcountries.com, data sourced from International Trade Centre showed that in 2015, China was the third largest mango importer globally and top importer of the fruit in Asia with imports of the fruit worth $260.2 million. In 2015, South Korea was the fifth largest mango importer in Asia with imports to the tune of $55.6 million.

According to the APEDA, India has around 1,000 mango varieties, though only a few varieties are commercially cultivated.