Lucknow: In order to promote exports from North India, for the first time, a trial shipment of 10 tonnes of mangoes (North Indian mango variety of Chausa) was sent by the sea route on July 15, 2019, from the Uttar Pradesh Mandi Parishad Pack House, Malihabad, Lucknow to Italy.

The shipment was financially supported by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The trial shipment was flagged off by Director, UP Mandi Parishad, R K Pandey, and AGM APEDA, Dr C B Singh in the presence of officers from different departments. The shipment is the result of the first international Reverse Buyer-Seller Meet (RBSM) organized in Lucknow on June 26 and 27, 2019, by APEDA.

The consignment sent from Lucknow to Pipavav Port, Gujarat, by road through the reefer container, will reach Italy via Spain. The total voyage time will be approximately 20-22 days from Lucknow to Italy.

Generally, mangoes are exported from Uttar Pradesh by air and costs are high for goods to be transported from Lucknow to Europe. Due to this problem, although Uttar Pradesh has good quality mangoes due to limited flights available from Lucknow and high rates of air freight it was not viable to export mangoes by air. Exporting mangoes to Europe by sea costs Rs. 28 per kilogram, while airfreight costs Rs. 120 per kilogram.

India's agricultural exports from hinterland areas are limited due to structural challenges in cold chain logistics. To overcome this problem, new scientific techniques are being used by exporters to improve the shelf life of mangoes.