Mango wars: China grown Indian mango varieties eat into India’s exports

New Delhi: A gift from India's first prime minister to a then-friendly China has come back to ‘bite’ the former.

China's exports of mangoes, including Indian varieties such as Dasheri, Chausa, Alphonso, and Langra, have been higher than India's own exports for at least two successive years for which data is available. Some of these Chinese exports of Indian mangoes find their way into India as well.

Pertinently, India produces 40% of the world's mangoes, the most by any country, but it also has a large domestic consumption market.

China exported mangoes, fresh or dried, worth $59.43 million in 2023, according to data shared by the Chinese Embassy in India, quoting the country's customs statistics. The embassy did not provide any further details in its response to Mint's queries.

Behind China

The same year, India’s mango exports were $55.94 million, or 6.24% lower than China's, according to data from the commerce ministry.

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The previous year, in 2022, the difference was even higher. China's mango exports that year were valued at $61.91 million, while India’s exports stood at $45.76 million. This places China as a significant player in the global mango export market, though it still lags top exporters like Mexico and Peru.

However, Indian mango growers, exporters, and trade bodies are hopeful of a trend reversal in 2024, with the country already having exported fresh mangoes worth $49.55 million in January-May 2024, which is more than what it exported in the full year of 2022.

Reacting to the development, a senior government official, who wished not to be named, said, “The trade data of June and July is under evaluation and given the trend, our performance will be much better than anyone else.”

The official also pointed to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Agency (APEDA) and said the agency should have verified the Indian-like mango varieties being exported from China and flagged the issue with concerned officials for further guidance.

The APEDA is an arm of the commerce ministry responsible for the export of fruits and vegetables.

Queries emailed to commerce ministry remained unanswered till press time.

The genesis and the impact

Mangoes were largely unknown in China until the 1960s, except in a few southern regions.

According to declassified documents from the ministry of external affairs, as part of India's mango diplomacy initiated in the 1950s by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, New Delhi had sent eight mango saplings to China as a gift to then Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. The gift included three saplings of Dasheri, two each of Chausa and Alphonso, and one sapling of Langra.

Today, industry players say China has developed huge expertise over these varieties on its own soil. Indian-like varieties of Alphonso, Kesar, and Langra are cultivated in southern provinces like Hainan and Guangdong, where the climate is favourable for mango cultivation.

“In China, varieties like Dasheri, Husnara, and Hapus (Alphonso) have been developed and some of it even exported to India," Shahid Khan, owner of Royal Farms in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh told Mint over phone. "Also, varieties like Totapari and Kesar are part of China's mango exports.” Khan manages a 71-acre mango farm within the mango belt of 1,716 acres in Meerut district.

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Khan points out that use of banned chemicals and pesticides by mango growers in India disqualifies our mangoes for export, which is a concern.

Besides China, many of India's popular mango varieties are also grown in Pakistan and Bangladesh. These varieties are often identified as products from these countries in the international market, which is a concerning trend, he said.

The Fazli variety, which is India’s GI-tagged variety, is being grown in Bangladesh, while Langra, Chausa, and Rataul are grown in Pakistan, said Khan, who is in the mango business for decades.

“We should have been the leaders in the mango export market, given that we are the original cultivators of about 1,400 mango varieties. However, due to our own negligence, we are lagging behind and losing ground to other countries that are capitalizing on our varieties," Khan said.

Another mango grower, Batuksinh Jadeja, owner of Shree Ashapura Farm & Nursery in Kutch, Gujarat, said that production and exports of mangoes from India can further improve if the government facilitates cargo transport.

“Transport remains a major challenge for small farmers. If the government provides testing and other facilities in Kutch, we will be able to compete with China in mango exports,” he said.

Kutch is known for growing the Kesar variety of mango. Jadeja, who exports mangoes to Oman, Australia, the US and EU, highlighted that there is no irradiation facility in Kutch.

“We practise organic farming, and our mangoes undergo over 280 tests. We manage a 300-acre mango farm with 45,000 plants and export 350 tonnes per season while also supplying locally,” the Gujarat mango trader said.

The fiscal numbers

In FY24 terms, India’s mango export stood at $60.16 million, which is highest in the past five years.

Mango exports, which were valued at $56 million in FY2019-20, dropped to $36 million in FY2020-21 due to pandemic-related restrictions.

However, they rebounded to $44 million in FY22 despite ongoing trade impacts from covid-19 restrictions and further increased to $49 million in FY23.

As per a National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) report, the peak season for mangoes in India is April, May, and June, while February, March, and July are considered lean months for the harvest.

Comparatively, peak season for mangoes in China falls between June and August. During this period, domestic mangoes are harvested and widely available in the markets for exports and domestic consumption.

India's diverse climate supports the cultivation of a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables.

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According to the National Horticulture Database (second advance estimates), India produced 112.62 million metric tonnes of fruits and 204.96 million metric tonnes of vegetables during the 2023-24 period. Fruits were grown on 7.04 million hectares, while vegetables were cultivated on 11.11 million hectares.

The major mango-growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Telangana, and West Bengal.

Uttar Pradesh leads in mango production, accounting for 25.76% of the total production and achieving the highest productivity in the 2023-24 period, according to the 2nd Advance Estimate.

Major export destinations for mangoes in FY24 include the UAE, UK, US, Kuwait, and Qatar.