Dhenkanal: Owing to the abundant mango harvest in Dhenkanal this year, the district has bagged the top spot in the state with the production of 50,000 metric tonne mangoes. While this seasonal fruit usually has high demand in India’s metro cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi, this year, a direct consignment of 2.5-tonne Amrapalli mangoes was exported to Dubai from Dhenkanal for the first time ever.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority(APEDA) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry played the mediator for this trade. Mango farmer Subrata Kumar Das at his ‘Nature Eco Farm’ along Kalapani-Banasingh road under Dhenkanal Sadar cultivates mango and cashew on a 30-acre land.
On the 30-acre land, Amrapalli, Mallika, Daseri, and Keshar varieties of mangoes are being cultivated in 6 acre area. Fruits are cultivated here through organic methods and supplied to different states in India as well as foreign countries every year. But each time there was a mediator who coordinated the trade. This year, however, mango export was done through an agency under the Government of India. The officers of APEDA, the district Horticulture department, Paaf global private limited who purchased these mangoes from Subrat first visited “Nature Eco Farm” and examined the quality of the Amrapalli mangoes ahead of export. The mango consignment will be transported from Dhenkanal to Kolkata in an air-conditioned truck.
From there Paaf global private limited will send the consignment of mangoes to Dubai on a flight. The market price of Amrapalli mango is Rs 90 per kg, while in foreign countries; it will be sold approximately at Rs 200 per kg. Packets of these mangoes to be exported have been labeled with stickers mentioning ‘Nature Farm Dhenkanal’. “Dhenkanal mangoes will surely get a special identity in Dubai,” said Subrat Kumar Dash, owner of the farm.
District Collector Saroj Kumar Sethi flagged off the consignment for export in the presence of district Horticulture department assistant director Geetashree Padhi, eastern zonal head of APEDA Sitakanta Mandal, all India member and eastern region board member Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi, Paaf global private limited managing director Subrat Ghosh, and mango farmer Subrat Das were present. Mayurbhanj district has the record in mango cultivation in terms of land area but Dhenkanal district is on top in terms of mango production, said Padhi.
Around 200 farmers are cultivating over the 10,000-hectare area in the Dhenkanal district. Various workshops on mango farming will be organised for creating awareness among the farmers for mango cultivation in the coming days. “It is a matter of great pride for us to export Dhenkanal mango directly to foreign countries. Our farmers will get training about mango production and packaging on their own to get more benefits in the future,” said Collector Sethi.