Indian mangoes losing American market to Pakistan

Indian mango exporters are losing ground to their Pakistani counterparts in the US market. The exports of this exotic fruit from India, which started in 2007 in bargain of the access to the US Harley Davidson bikes to Indian market, is seeing a continuous decline over past three years. Exchange rate disadvantage Indian exporters face in competition with their Pakistani peers; high freight charges and lack of irradiation facilities in India are at blame. Data available with the agricultural and processed food product export development authority (Apeda) shows export of mangoes from India to US declined by 13.4 per cent in 2009-10 at 175.40 tonnes from 202.64 tonnes in 2008-09. In 2010-11, export saw a steeper decline of 22.1 per cent at 136.70 tonnes. This has fallen well short of Apeda’s expectations as the US is a large market and is yet to be fully tapped for mangoes.

“Indian mangoes have failed to meet our expectations in the US market. At the time of launch, we had expected mango exports touch 900-1,000 tonnes annually in three-five years to the US, where demand was high and growing because of the presence of large Indian diaspora there. On the contrary, we have seen exports declining every year and we seem to have lost to Pakistan”, a senior Apeda official said. Pakistan, he said, has an edge over India in exports of mangoes to the US on account of the currency as well as freight charges advantages. Freight charges in India are high because of additional surcharge and other taxes, including the education cess.

According to the official, India has only one irradiation facility in Nasik and mangoes being a seasonal and perishable fruit, quality deteriorates by the time it goes from Uttar Pradesh to Nasik for irradiation and is then exported to the US. “This adds to our overall cost. Moreover, prices of Pakistani mangoes are at least 25-30 per cent less than the Indian varieties because of their lower valued currency as compared to Indian rupee against dollar,” he said. The US has allowed selling of Indian mangoes only if they are irradiated and free from pests. India exported 59,220.78 tonnes of mangoes in 2010-11 worth Rs 162 crore. Major export destinations included the UAE (25,725 tonnes), Bangladesh (23,049.6 tonnes), the UK (2,723.5 tonnes), Nepal (1,991.3 tonnes) and Saudi Arabia (1,592.2 tonnes). Indian Dasheris’, Langra and Chausa, grown in Lucknow, Saharanpur and Barapanki belt of UP are the most sought after varieties of mangoes in the West.

Source: mydigitalfc.com