Packaging: A good way for mangosteen farmers to earn more

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

MANGOSTEEN farmers in Chumphorn have been advised to not only harvest the fruit but sort it out and package it for sales.

The National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards has encouraged the mangosteen farmers in Lang Suan district of the southern province to do the packaging of the fruit themselves so that they will directly secure more incomes from both domestic and export markets, according to Korvadi Polkliang, a senior official of the government agency.

For that reason, the mangosteen farmers are yet to obtain a Good Manufacturing Practice certificate in addition to a Good Agricultural Practice certificate which most already have been given, Korvadi said.

Thailand has exported some 1.5 billion baht worth of mangosteen to the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, China and Vietnam yearly.

The Thai mangosteen is currently exported as a fresh or frozen fruit and might be processed as dried or freeze-dried fruit for future export.

The southern region locates the country’s largest mangosteen plantations with Chumphorn ranking on top of the list of the producing provinces.

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Top: A basket of mangosteen. Photo: Yun Huang Yong (CC BY 2.0)