NewsWhore
06-01-2011, 03:40 PM
Take a trip to Bani and enjoy the mangos. It's mango season and the reports are that this year there are more mangos than buyers. The first vice president of the Bani Mango Producers Association (Abapromangos), Manuel Castillo said that producers have not found markets for half of this year's crop. He said of the Keith variety, 40% of the production is lost because of lack of export and domestic markets. He said the local markets are already saturated, as reported in El Caribe.
He said if these mangos were processed, the pulp could become sweets, preserves, juice and ice cream, even hair products and skin creams.
He said the problem with the export of the 'banilejo" type of mango is that they have only found markets in New York and Connecticut. He said that 80% of the crop is lost at the farms because they only have one export treatment plant.
There are over 1,100 mango plantations in the leading four mango-producing provinces of San Cristobal, Peravia (Bani), Azua and San Juan de la Maguana. In Bani alone, there are 30,000 tareas of the total 56,429 tareas (a tarea is equal to 629 square meters) of mango farms in the area.
Andres Onesimo Mejia, a former president of Abapromangos says they are exporting 200 containers to Europe, when there is a market for 600 or 700 containers. "If we had help, in a few years we could increase to 500 containers for the US and Europe," he said. A container ships around 45,000-47,000 mangos. Prices range from RD$8 to RD$12 each, depending on the mango and the time of the year.
The DR Center for Export & Investment reported that the country exported mangos for US$4.9 million last year, 0.3% less than in 2009. The leading markets are Holland, UK, Canada, US and Spain.
The president of the Mango Cluster, Rafael Leger said that they are taking part in world trade markets seeking new markets for the produce. He said they have found openings in Japan, Canada and Eastern Europe.
Expo Mango 2011 opens at the Marcos A. Cabral Park in Bani from 16-19 June. It is a chance to see and taste dozens of different kinds of delicious mangos.
For more upcoming and ongoing events, see www.dr1.com/calendar (http://www.dr1.com/calendar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)
He said if these mangos were processed, the pulp could become sweets, preserves, juice and ice cream, even hair products and skin creams.
He said the problem with the export of the 'banilejo" type of mango is that they have only found markets in New York and Connecticut. He said that 80% of the crop is lost at the farms because they only have one export treatment plant.
There are over 1,100 mango plantations in the leading four mango-producing provinces of San Cristobal, Peravia (Bani), Azua and San Juan de la Maguana. In Bani alone, there are 30,000 tareas of the total 56,429 tareas (a tarea is equal to 629 square meters) of mango farms in the area.
Andres Onesimo Mejia, a former president of Abapromangos says they are exporting 200 containers to Europe, when there is a market for 600 or 700 containers. "If we had help, in a few years we could increase to 500 containers for the US and Europe," he said. A container ships around 45,000-47,000 mangos. Prices range from RD$8 to RD$12 each, depending on the mango and the time of the year.
The DR Center for Export & Investment reported that the country exported mangos for US$4.9 million last year, 0.3% less than in 2009. The leading markets are Holland, UK, Canada, US and Spain.
The president of the Mango Cluster, Rafael Leger said that they are taking part in world trade markets seeking new markets for the produce. He said they have found openings in Japan, Canada and Eastern Europe.
Expo Mango 2011 opens at the Marcos A. Cabral Park in Bani from 16-19 June. It is a chance to see and taste dozens of different kinds of delicious mangos.
For more upcoming and ongoing events, see www.dr1.com/calendar (http://www.dr1.com/calendar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)