India's 'king of fruits' heads to US as ban lifted

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

NEW DELHI (AFP) — The United States is set to receive its first consignment of prized Indian mangoes in 18 years after lifting a ban, officials said Thursday.

Commerce ministry officials here said 150 boxes of the famed King Alphonso and Kessar varieties would depart by air for New York later on Thursday from the western Indian city of Mumbai.

"This weekend Indian mangoes could be on the breakfast tables of Americans who fancy the 'king of the fruits,'" a ministry official told AFP, as Indian customs said it would clear the consignment for export.

India has been pushing for years to export its mangoes to the United States since they were banned in 1989 over problems with pests such as fruit flies and weevils.

But US President George W. Bush and Prime...