Five Cambodian mango farms were inspected by Korean officials in March, but the results of the inspection have not been made public yet, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed this week.
From March 25-29, a delegation from Korea’s Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) visited Cambodian mango farms and completed sanitary and phytosanitary inspections, the ministry said in a statement, adding that Cambodia hopes to export the fruit to the East Asian nation in the near future.
The firms that underwent inspections have a combined 1,008 hectares of land to grow the fruit, the ministry said. In Chayvan, president of the Kampong Speu Mango Association, said he hoped Cambodian mango will soon be shipped to South Korea.
“Cambodia and Korea signed an agreement on the exportation of mango many years ago, but no shipments have been made because there is a shortage of processing factories, particularly vapor heat treatment facilities,” Chayvan said. “We have an agreement, but we lack the know-how on using fertilizers, harvesting, cleaning, and packaging, so exporting to South Korea is still not possible.”
It is reported that officially, Cambodia only exports mangoes to France and Russia through Kingdom Fruit International, a subsidiary of the Mong Reththy Group, one of the country’s top agricultural firms. Cambodia exported 187 tons of mango to France and 17 tons to Russia last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
