The government took an initiative to increase the export of mangoes few years back. In continuation of that, this year the exporters have set a target to double the export of mangoes.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target of around 10,000 tonnes of exportable mango production in the country this season. Based on that, the fruit exporters have set a target of 4,000 tonnes of mango exports in the current financial year, as against 1757 tonnes last year.
With this it is likely to earn Tk 64 crore (equivalent to USD 600,000) from mango exports this year. Last year the export amount was some USD 236,027. And in 2020 mangoes were exported worth USD 50,000.
According to the information of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), only 100 tonnes of mangoes were exported in the season of 2019, which amounted to more than Tk 4.11 crore. Next year, in 2020 season, that export has increased by a leap to 1,700 tonnes which have brought Tk 70.01 crore to the country.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 12.22 lakh tonnes of mangoes were produced in fiscal year 2019-20. There are mango plantations in 2.35 lakh acres of land in the country. Each tree produces an average of 77 kg of mangoes. Mango season starts from May every year. The peak season lasts until October. After this exporters continue to export processed mangoes.
As per the exporters information, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had sent mangoes as gifts to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan a few years ago has played a major role in branding Bangladeshi mangoes around the world.
Since then the export orders of Bangladeshi mangoes from various countries have been increasing. This is the indication of rising from the bottom of the export.
Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Product Exporter's Association President SM Jahangir Hossain told Bangladesh Post that the Prime Minister’s mango diplomacy has helped to uphold the local varieties of mango to the world. “Since then we are maintaining communication with foreign importers. In this continuation I must say the export of mangoes will exceed this year,” said Hossain.
However, a DAE official claimed that export to different EU countries cannot be increased due to the lack of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certified mango orchards for mango export.
Meanwhile, agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzque earlier said that work is underway to identify export barriers and eliminate them.
“There is a lot of demand for Bangladeshi mangoes in the world market. The production of mangoes in the country has increased several fold, the export potential is also high. Mangoes should be guaranteed to be safe and disease-free for export. But we can’t give that guarantee yet, however, our preparations are going on in this regard,” added the minister.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension, the production of mangoes in the country is about 24 lakh tonnes. Every year there is a mango trade worth around Tk 14,000 crore. However, 25 to 30 percent of mangoes are wasted due to lack of modern systems in transportation, storage and marketing.
More than 15 nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Switzerland, Great Britain, India, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Nepal, Sweden, Singapore, and Swaziland, import mangoes from Bangladesh. Mangoes were only exported to a few countries just five years ago.
At the same time, various European countries including England, Japan, and Russia have shown interest in importing mangoes from Bangladesh. 21 varieties of mangoes are exported in the world, several of which are produced in Bangladesh.
