Guangxi mango products a big hit overseas

NANNING — Mango-flavored ice pops keep rolling off a production line in the county of Tiandong, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The tropical sweet treat will later embark on a long journey to Russia.

"To meet rising demand, output has skyrocketed from a few hundred (metric) tons last year to over 3,000 tons so far this year. We're on track to hit 5,000 tons for the entire year," said Lin De'en, chairman of Tiandong Yisheng Import and Export Trade Co.

Nearly 60 percent of the company's mango ice pop exports are bound for Russia, while the rest will be sent to Kazakhstan, South Korea and Japan.

Tiandong aims to make itself "China's mango capital". With the local mango industry shifting from fresh fruit exports to deep processing, products such as mango chips, purees and jam are gradually breaking into emerging overseas markets.

"We also supply mango products as raw materials to bubble tea brands across Anhui, Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong provinces," said Zeng Chengrui, assistant to the company's general manager. "During each mango season, our combined output of pulp and puree tops 6,000 tons, yet we still can't keep up with demand."

Lin echoed Zeng's sentiments.

"Now, our biggest challenge is not sales channels, but production capacity," he said.

As one of the country's leading mango hubs, Tiandong is now home to some 22,666 hectares of mango orchards.

It is accelerating the promotion of integrated water and fertilizer irrigation, and eco-friendly pest and disease control, said Liu Dehuan, chief agronomist of the county's agriculture and rural affairs bureau.

"In the past, farmers mainly relied on manual pesticide spraying. Now, drones equipped with high-precision sensors can accurately detect the growth of fruit trees and the distribution of pests and diseases, enabling precise pesticide application and intelligent pest control," he explained.

Xinhua