Senegal’s mango export season is shaping up as a turnaround story, a rocky start giving way to strong volume expectations and, notably, a clean phytosanitary record so far, according to an on-the-ground update from Notto AI’s Makhou Dioup.
Harvesting kicked off in early June across the country’s main production zones, but the early weeks were difficult. “The difficulties this year in general are the non-irrigated orchards and at the same time the rain has not yet settled in across the Niayes zone. Because of that, at the start of the campaign we had very slow ripening and small calibers in non-irrigated farms,” explained Dioup. Quality problems compounded the slow start in parts of the growing region. He added, “The other difficulty I’ve observed in the Niayes zone is that a part of the production, up to one third, had spots.”
Despite the rough opening, Dioup’s outlook has firmed considerably as the season has progressed. “After seeing the early results, we are confident we will see large volumes this year. Fruit sizing has trended toward the market’s preferred range.The dominant calibers this year are 9 and 10,” added Dioup. The standout development this season is on the phytosanitary side, historically one of the biggest risks to Senegal’s mango export trade. “Up to now there are no notifications about Senegalese mangoes. The DPV has taken many measures including a decision to ban night work after 6 PM to avoid the presence of fruit flies in shipments,” said Dioup.
He further attributed the clean record to sustained orchard-level discipline rather than a single measure. “This year the orchards are very clean, with sanitation, training on good practices, installation of traps, and awareness-raising on the flies. This year Senegal is really doing well against fruit flies and avoiding interceptions,” concluded Dioup. Exporters and buyers tracking Senegal’s mango campaign, the combination of recovering volumes, favourable sizing and critically a fruit fly free record to date positions this season as a genuine improvement on prior years, when phytosanitary interceptions have periodically disrupted shipments to key export markets.
