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Malda’s mangoes & litchis to hit markets of Europe and Middle East

Malda’s mangoes & litchis to hit markets of Europe and Middle East
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Malda: The two most revenue generating popular fruits of the Malda district are going to hit the markets of Europe and Middle East this year. The initiative is from Kolkata and Mumbai-based exporters who remain in close contact with the district Horticulture department to procure best of the quality of these fruits from the growers in coordination with the department.

While mango from Malda will be travelling to the London markets, litchi will be bound for England, Bahrain and Qatar.

The growers are happy with this news anticipating a heavy demand that will ultimately translate into greater revenues earned. The organic cultivation of the fruits will also get a boost as fruits having residue of pesticides are rejected by the export market.

Samanta Layek, deputy director of district Horticulture department, said: “One of the exporters contacted us for litchi to be exported to other countries and we have helped him procure the best quality fruits from our listed growers. The demand for litchi in Bahrain and Qatar started to evolve 2 years back. This time litchi yield is very good in Malda at over 16,000 metric tonnes. However, mango production suffered this time owing to adverse weather conditions.”

Himsagar (Khirsapati in Malda) variety of mangoes will be delivered to London by Jagatjyoti Sen, an exporter.

Sen said: “We are sending packed mangoes to London directly from a mango orchard in Ratua. Almost 3 to 5 tonnes of mangoes will be exported daily.”

Ujjwal Saha, president of Malda Mango Merchants Association, said: “Excess export duty on mangoes has caused a hindrance in exports to Bangladesh since the past 12 years. Malda mangoes had travelled to the UK two years ago and again the opportunity has arrived this year. We are very happy. We are anticipating a production of at least 1.5 lakh metric tons of mango in Malda and 1/3 of it will be Himsagar.”

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