Mango: A Fruit With A Future
The Costa Rican mango continues to sweeten the palates of Europeans and Americans alike, as the exportation of the fruit grew 40% in 2004.

This fact has not taken by surprise the officials at the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG) who have been promoting the product.

According to Juan Mora Montero, co-ordinator of the Programa Nacional de Investigación de Frutales del Instituto Nacional de Innovación y Transferencia en Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), says the positive results have been achieved over the last three years. A 20% increase over 2004 figures is expected for the year 2005.

The major markets for the Costa Rican mango is the United States and Europe, though the European market is more important to Tico exporters as Europeans are less stringent in receiving the export keeping the prices low. In contrast, Americans are more stringent on the export that increase the cost of production.

The mango is also increasing consumption at home, as Costa Ricans every day consume more and more of the fruit and are ready to pay a higher price at off season periods.

The MAG and INTA are keeping a close relationship with mango growers, offering them training in the latest technologies and help them experiment with new varieties.

Costa Rica has some 8.000 hectares of mango plantation which produce some 40.000 metric tonnes of the fruit each year.