Mangoes are one of the major fruit crops throughout Indonesia and are an important component of the horticulture industry in Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB). They are particularly important in the drier, poorer areas of eastern Indonesia as a drought tolerant, secure source of income.
Current markets are heavily supplied with the Harumanis variety with little opportunity to develop new market opportunities in either export or out of season markets in other areas of Indonesia.
Through early flowering, it is possible to extend the season, making a longer season for the same production and thereby increasing prices to farmers.
Good out of season export opportunities exist for the variety Gedung gunci, which is grown exclusively in Indonesia. This variety needs to be properly evaluated for its performance as an export and domestic supermarket variety.
Appropriate production technologies such as bagging, post harvest fruit fly treatments, post harvest fungicide treatments, and better control of sap marks at harvest will improve quality, especially in the context of developing export capability.
Other varieties should be introduced and evaluated for adaptation to the unique lowland tropical conditions in Indonesia, for domestic supermarkets and export.
Export will be dependent on building a national capacity to develop access protocols in government, including disinfestation research. This also includes the capacity to manage chemical registration and MRL issues for access.
Indonesia has strong competitive advantages in export. An initial requirement will be to assess export issues and opportunities in both phyto markets and non-phyto markets. The development of an export supply chain must include exporters.