Sunday, May 20, 2001		Article

King of fruits doesn’t rule the world
By K.R.N. Swamy

THE mango season is in full swing in India. A few years ago, during a survey carried out by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade on the export of Indian fruits, it was shocking to learn that although India produces 65 per cent of the world’s mangoes, the export share of fresh mangoes is less than that of The Philippines. Thailand and Mexico. Today, most of the mangoes for Europe are imported from South Africa, Ivory Coast and Israel, and the re-export from the Gulf countries of non-Indian mango products is more than the Indian exports of the same category.

It is surprising, that in spite of the fact that mango juice has become well-established in foreign markets, India has done very little to popularise this drink. At many Indian diplomatic functions abroad, mango juice supplants the usual liquor and is greatly appreciated. A few years ago, when the then Vice-President of India visited Algeria, he gave a party in which mango juice proved so popular that the Indian Embassy ran out of supply and had to apologise to disappointed guests.

An Indian trade mission visiting Australia realised that India could not make much headway in the local mango market because of the high prices. The lowest quotation for Indian canned mangoes was 40 per cent more than that of our rivals from South Africa. West Asia takes most of its mangoes, mango juice and jam from South Africa. In the USA, it is cheaper to buy mangoes from Mexico...

India produces 13 million of the total world output of 20 million tonnes of mangoes. Of these, barely 40,000 tonnes of fresh mangoes could be exported, bringing to the country in 1999, Rs 58 crore worth of foreign exchange. This is mainly because no effective method has been found to keep the fruit in good condition during transit. According to the Government of India’s plans, the export level has to rise to 680 crore, which would mean exporting nearly half a million tonnes of mangoes or nearly 12 times the present exports.?. As for Indian canned mango products, only 20,000 metric tonnes could be exported in 1996-97.

Many Indians are under the impression that the mango is an exclusive Indian fruit. However, in many parts of the world, especially in South Africa and Mexico, several local varieties of mangoes are grown and over the years horticulturists have been growing many famous Indian varieties. "The mango king of Gujarat", who visited the USA a few years ago, found that about half a million mango trees have been planted in Florida. He also discovered that mangoes grown in the USA were less sweet, probably due to differences in soil conditions. American mango producers have a fruit research station at Miami, Florida, and are spending a considerable amount to overcome these problems.

Another Indian "mango king’, Mr Desai found that the mango was getting a bad name because the juice trickled down when, eaten without slicing. Indeed, in many parts of Europe, the mango is known as the ‘bathroom fruit’. You can eat it only in a bathtub. Mr Desai has devised a spoon-like instrument for holding the stone of the fruit while it is being cut, thus minimising the outflow of juice. Besides this importers of Indian mangoes have their own special preferences. For example, in West Asia mangoes are favoured for the table while Russia wants more mango juice.

Another factor that hampers our export has been the "adulteration" of the famous Alphonso mangoes. According to one authority, unscrupulous dealers are artificially ripening Alphonso mangoes by treating the raw green fruit with carbide powder. Within 36 hours, the mango assumes a wonderful golden colour. But it is yet extremely sour and the unfortunate buyer regrets his purchase. Experts say that most of the deterioration occurs during the ripening period — up to 40 per cent. It is estimated that if this spoilage can be reduced to less than 5 per cent, the country can save millions of rupees per season.

Another novel export project is to make dehydrated fruit powder. In Maharashtra, plants have been opened for making powders out of common fruits like bananas, mangoes and papayas. Experts say that these powders retain the colour, aroma and taste of the original fruit for more than two years and can be used in ice creams and confectionery. With such a large percentage of the world’s mango production on our soil, we should be able to corner the mango powder market.

A few years ago, the Central Food Technological Institute in Bangalore evolved a new breakfast food with the use of mango. The new product was prepared, by processing mango pulp and cereals together with an appropriate composition of 49 per cent mango pulp, 23 per cent flour and 28 per cent sugar. It was fortified with Vitamin-C.

The Indian mango grower is keenly aware of the problems involved in exporting this ‘king’ among fruits. Research work is also being done on dwarf mango trees, of which, a higher number can be planted per acre. Recently a hybrid mango, named Ratna, has been developed, preserving the best qualities of the fabulous Alphonso, while excluding its sponginess. But our rivals are not keeping quiet. Pakistan, which is the third largest producer of mangoes in the world, has been recently luring customers with an exotic hybrid named Sundari!