Some 680,968 kilogrammes of East Indian and St. Julian mangoes valued at US$1,546,528 were exported to Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States in the 2021 mango season.
This represents a 53.3% increase in the volume of mangoes exported over the 2020 period and a 59% increase in earnings.
Leading the list of importing countries was Canada with some 365,337 kilogrammes followed by the UK with shipments of 226,432 kilogrammes and export earnings of US$515,211.
“This increase in mango exports can in part be attributed to our resumption of exports to the United Kingdom in April this year following a seven-year self-imposed ban on mango exports,” said Sanniel Wilson Graham, Chief Plant Quarantine Produce Inspector at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
This self-imposed ban, Wilson Graham explained, was put into effect to prevent a permanent ban on mangoes and other soft fruits.
The increase in mango exports is part of the Ministry’s drive to expand exports and increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
Through the Ministry’s Plant Quarantine Produce Inspection Branch, Jamaica has been working with farmers across the country to manage fruit flies in their field and minimize the presence of fruit flies in mangoes.
In keeping with the overwhelming demand for Jamaican mangoes overseas, the Ministry, through the Agro-Investment Corporation, is seeking to establish a 100-acre mango orchard in Clarendon in partnership with private sector investors.
-30-
