AGRICULTURE and Fisheries Minister Floyd Green says the growth of Jamaica’s mango export programme is expected to boost the volume of goods shipped this year.

“We are very happy to see the growth of the programme as we are doing over 1,000 boxes of mangoes to the United States. We have [advanced significantly] from when we had only two registered farmers to now having over 18 farmers [who] are registered. Plus, we had only one registered exporter and now we have nine exporters,” Green said, adding that “We are looking to see tremendous growth this season.”

He was speaking with JIS News after seeing off a shipment of some 1,100 boxes of East Indian and St Julian mangoes, totalling more than 5,000 kilogrammes (kgs), to the US from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay last Friday.

The shipment is the first to that country for 2021 and the second since the start of the year, following the exportation of more 4,000 kilogrammes of the fruit to the United Kingdom (UK) in April.

Jamaica resumed exporting mangoes to the US in 2019, shipping some 8,151 kilogrammes, after being out of that market since 1999.

Data show that between January and October 2020 approximately 100,000 pounds (45,359 kilogrammes) of Jamaican mangoes were sold in the US.

Prior to the 2019 shipment the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had given clearance for local mango exports in 2014.

Up to that time Jamaica was exporting mangoes to diaspora markets in Canada and the UK.

A total of 654,954 kgs were shipped to Canada in 2013, and another 691,206 kgs in 2014.

Green, who noted that the US shipment marked the first of several being targeted for 2021, said Jamaica is focused on becoming a major global supplier of fruits, among other agricultural produce.

“We are on a mission to take the best fruits in the world to the world,” he declared.

The minister further said he was optimistic that the construction of a hot-water treatment plant, which is slated for completion this fiscal year, will aid in Jamaica’s quest to tap into more external markets for mangoes.

Noting the USDA’s endorsement of the facility’s development, Green said “we expect that that will really open up [opportunities for] mango exportation into the United States to a lot more mango farmers”.

“We think that is a tremendous development… as we continue to expand our export reach,” he added

— JIS