Construction work continues at the pack house. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Feb. 16: Even before the trees have begun blossoming, orders for mangoes are pouring in not only from South Asian countries but also from China. A consignment of around a 100 tonnes of the fruit has been ordered this year.

“The Chinese government is keen to buy Bengal mangoes. Singapore and Malaysia too have expressed their interest,” said state food processing minister Sailen Sarkar. He said with the weather being conducive to a bumper crop this year, there was every possibility that a large consignment of the fruit would be exported to China this year.

The prospects for mango exporters of this district has improved further with a state-of-the-art “pack house” — that can store up to 500 tonnes of mangoes and litchis — coming up with Central assistance.

Located on a 2.33-acre plot belonging to the agricultural department, the Rs 1.25-crore pack house is being constructed by the food processing department and the state Horticulture Development Corporation with Central funds.

The government is also set to procure two air-conditioned vans to transport the fruits from the pack house to the loading points. Each of these vans will cost around Rs 12 lakh.

Before embarking on the construction of the storage facility, the government has sent horticultural officers to inspect the pack house operating in Lucknow. Managing director of the horticulture corporation, Nikhilendu Hazra, said mangoes and litchis exported from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are stored in the Lucknow pack house.

“We are putting in place all that is needed to export fruits from Malda and the neighbouring districts, including modern storage, temperature control and packaging facilities,” Hazra said.

According to the food processing minister, last year the mango growers in the district had made “token” exports to the West Asian countries, Malaysia and Singapore. Around 2,500 quintals of the fruit exported last year.

“About 59 per cent of the mango is harvested in Malda alone, while the rest are from Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24-Parganas,” said Hazra.

“In an on-year, approximately 200,000 tonnes of mangoes are harvested from the 25,000 hectares of the district’s orchards,” the horticulturist added.

Despite last year being an on-year, experts are expecting a bumper crop this time as well due to the prevalent westerly winds that is helping the mangoes to blossom.

Hazra said the mango growers are being trained to produce fruits that are big in size and uniform in colour so that they suit the demands of the importers.