The Lasalgaon irradiation centre has till June 20 treated 272 tonnes of mangoes for export to the US and is expecting a 35% rise in supply to the country by the end of the season.
Vasai-based Agrosurg Irradiators India Pvt Ltd, which is commercially operating the Lasalgaon irradiation centre, has set a target for irradiating close to 400 tonnes of mangoes by the end of the mango season by July 15.
The norms in the US make irradiation of mangoes mandatory before the fruits are exported to the country. Accordingly, the Agrosurg Irradiators started the irradiation process from the beginning of the season for export to the US. The Lasalgaon facility irradiates around seven metric tonnes of mangoes in an eight-hour shift.
Harshad Doshi, the managing director of the Agrosurg Irradaitors, said, “We started irradiating mangoes for export to the US from May 7 and have so far processed 272 tonnes of it. The season is expected to continue till June 15 and we are expecting to process close to 400 tonnes of mangoes by that time. We want to promote business for export to the US, which requires irradiation.”
He added, “Apart from mangoes, we are planning to irradiate onion and garlic as we want to increase shelf life of the commodities. So far, we have received 60 tonnes of garlic for irradiation. We have been in the irradiation business for the last 10 years and have our own state-of-the-art multi-product radiation processing facility for pre-packaged products at Vasai in Maharashtra.”