Mango growers in Saurashtra, especially Talala, the hub of Kesar mango production, are ecstatic over mangoes being exported to US after 18 years.

Talala is the hub of Kesar mangoes with an estimated production of mangoes worth over Rs 60 crore. The first consignment of Indian mangoes is ready to be exported to United States on Thursday, after receiving necessary clearance from US regulators.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) got a green signal for the export of the mangoes on Wednesday night.

The first and a small consignment of ‘Alphonso’ and ‘Kesar’ varieties of mangoes consisting of 150 boxes has been processed at Lasalgaon food irradiation plant in Maharashtra of BARC/BRIT units of the department of atomic energy.

"It is a boon now that US has opened up its market for exporting Kesar mango," said MLA from Talala, Govind Parmar, who had aggressively canvassed for inclusion of Saurashtra mangoes in the agri-export zone.

In Dhava in Talala taluka, renowned for it choicest Kesar mangoes, there is palpable excitement over growing export possibilities.

At least three truckloads, carrying an estimated 30 tonnes of Kesar mangoes, were recently sent to Mumbai to be exported. Dhava village sarpanch Narsinhbhai Vagardhia said, "The green signal for exporting Kesar mangoes to US certainly spells booming business opportunities for us,” he said.

Narsinhbhai said that their village was already attracting exporters from Mumbai. In fact, the Junagadh Agriculture University is all set to host a seminar exploring export possibilities of Kesar mangoes from Saurashtra next week.

US had stopped import of mangoes 18 years ago as it felt that Indian farmers were using too much pesticides.

However, the import was revived after a request made by US President George Bush after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, last year.