Japanese to relish India's king of fruit

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, May 21 (UNI) After titillating taste buds of Americans, Indian mangoes have reached Japanese shores to the delight of cultivators in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh's main mango-cultivating district of Chittoor.

Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh flagged off the first consignment of Banganpalli mangoes from Tirupati to Japan yesterday.

Maharashtra's Alphonso reached the United States last month.

The US and Japan lifted ban on certain varieties of Indian mangoes recently.

After the dispatch of one tonne of golden fruit, it is expected that about 35-40 tonnes of the mangoes would be exported by the end of this season in July.

India is exporting mangoes to Japan after a 20-year ban was lifted for six varieties in June 2006, an official release said today.

The varieties include: Alphonso, Banganpalli, Chausa, Kesar, Langra and Mallika. Market access for Malda and Dushehari varieties are also now under review.

Each Banganpalli mango is expected to retail for Rs 200 in Japanese stores, the release said.

Export to the US became possible with the establishment of vapour heat treatment plant at Vashi near Mumbai by Agricultural and processed food products exports developments authority (APEDA). The authority is setting up three more plants of Rs eight crore each at Tirupati and Nuzvid in Andhra Pradesh and at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Besides three such plants have already set up in the private sector at Chittoor, Thane and Nashik.

Vapour treatment is essential for meeting Japanese health standards.

Andhra Pradesh is country's leading producer of mangoes, accounting for about 30 per cent of the country's production. It also accounts for about 80 per cent of India's mango pulp production.

UNI

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