Mango export to Europe from Satkhira begins

SATKHIRA, May 17: Export of different varieties of mangoes to Europe started from Satkhira district on Tuesday.
The export began formally after collecting mangoes from the orchard of Moksed Ali at Chanka village in Sadar upazila.
Deputy director of Satkhira DAE Nazrul Islam, some 600 metric tonnes of mangoes will be exported this year from across the country to England, Germany, Italy, France and Denmark. Of which, 100 mts will be exported from Satkhira.
Ziel International Limited, an exporting firm, collected mangoes of different varieties including Gobindabhog, Himsagar, Langra and Amrapali from the orchard for export.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), this year 4,115 hectares of land have been brought under mango cultivation in the district with a target to produce 50000- 60000 metric tonnes of mangoes.There are 13,000 mango growers and of them 500received training from the local DAE office and 100 metric tonnes of mangoes will be exported in this season from them.
"I have visited the orchard directly and on the first day I have collected 500 kgs of mangoes but the buyers demand is 1000 kgs," Managing Director of Ziel International Limited Arif Haider said.
The demand of Satkhira's mango is more than that of India, Pakistan and Egypt, he said adding "I exported the mangoes to London."
The Khirsapat mango of Chapainawabganj, popularly known as Himsagar, got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag as the third Bangladeshi product after Hilsa and Jamdani in 2020.
GI is a name or sign used on products to certify that it possesses certain qualities for being made or produced as per traditional methods or enjoys a certain reputation due to its geographical origin. Khirshapat mangoes are one of the tastiest and account for 20-25 percent of the total mangoes produced in Bangladesh every year. This variety is exported to many countries of Europe and the Middle East every year.     -UNB