Mangoes in northern Thailand are being picked in first harvest and mostly bound for export to China, confirmed a Thai government official on Tuesday.
Yu Wen and R2E2 mangoes which have been grown in Chiang Mai province since the last few years are currently picked in their first harvest and mostly destined for the Chinese market, according to Sompol Sankham, the chief provincial agricultural official.
Plantations of Yu Wen and R2E2 mangoes will very likely be expanded throughout Chiang Mai due to increasing demands from China, he said.
Yu Wen and R2E2 mangoes are produced in addition to Nam Dokmai (flower on water) mango, most of which was earlier harvested and exported to China, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East.
Chiang Mai, one of Thailand's largest mango-growing areas, has produced an estimated 70,000 tons of Nam Dokmai mango in some 22,000 acres of plantation yearly, earning some 28 million U.S. dollars in sales yearly, the agricultural official said.
