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There are around 4,000 hectares of mango plants in Malaga.
Thieves caught with 223 kilos of fruit as mango harvest season gets underway across Malaga province

Thieves caught with 223 kilos of fruit as mango harvest season gets underway across Malaga province

Mangoes are the second most important exotic fruit to be grown in the area after avocados and are expected to yield more crops this year

agustín peláez

Friday, 22 September 2017, 11:49

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As the mango harvest gets underway across Malaga and Granada provinces, four youths have already been caught stealing the exotic fruit from farms in the village of Benamargosa in the Axarquía. Two people were stopped by police officers while driving near the village and bags of mangoes were found in the boot of the car. A further two people were found hiding in one of the mango orchards. A total of eight sacks, weighing 223 kilos, were seized from the thieves.

Call for tighter controls

The robbery comes as producers call on authorities to step up controls of mango growing areas, which take up around 4,000 hectares of land across the province. One of the organisations, Asaja Malaga, said recently that the fruit is highly coveted by thieves as it has a high market value.

Malaga and Granada provinces are the only mango growing areas in Europe and the fruit is exported across the continent. Although production started around thirty years ago, it has only been in the last decade that mango sales have really taken off . Traditional mango-producing countries include India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and the Philippines, among others. However, Malaga and Granadas climate has led to highly successful exotic fruit production in recent years.

According to Asaja, more than 20,000 tonnes of the fruit are expected to be picked this season, slightly exceeding 2016s harvest, bringing around 25 million euros into the area. In Malaga the average price for a kilo of mangoes at this time of year is between ¤1.20 and ¤1.30.

Reputation for quality

The majority of the provinces mangoes are destined for the European market and much of the produce arrives at its destination within 24 hours of picking, giving Malagas fruit a reputation for quality that mangoes from other countries often do not have as they have spent a longer time in transport, or have been flown, significantly increasing the price to consumers.

The mango is the second most important subtropical crop in Malaga after the avocado. There are a number of varieties grown in the area and more have been trialled to be introduced in the future. The most common varieties are currently the Osteen, which is most widely grown, followed by Kent and Keitt, which ripen later on and the Tommy Asking, which is the earliest variety as it is largely grown in greenhouses.

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