Here’s happy news for both the mango growers and mango lovers in India. The Rataul mango, grown in large numbers in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, received its GI tag in September this year. A geographical indication or GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

Interestingly, the tussle for the GI tag has been going on between India and  neighbouring Pakistan as the latter also claims proprietorship over this variety of mango. The claims are that the variety was taken by relatives of the Uttar Pradesh farmers and carried to Pakistan where it is cultivated too and widely exported to middle eastern countries. 

The Baghpat Rataul mango received its much-awaited GI certification last month at a function organised in Varanasi by the Geographical Indications Registry. The effort to obtain the GI tag had been going for more than 10 years, when the application for a tag was made in 2010.   

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Named after the village Rataul in Baghpat district, the variety of mango has a distinctive smell and flavour. While the mango is not widely known in other parts of the country, it is a great favourite with the inhabitants of western Uttar Pradesh.  

The recent recognition accorded to it could give the cultivators of this mango a filip and create excellent opportunities for its export.  Since the season of cultivation of this mango is different in Pakistan and India, there should not be any conflict of interest either. 

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The Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow, has also registered for GI tag for Uttar Pradesh’s other renowned mangoes, the chausa and the gaurjeet. If these mangoes do get their tags, then Uttar Pradesh will overtake West Bengal that is at the moment ahead with GI tags for the Fazli, Himsagar and Lakhan Bhog varieties of mangoes grown in the state. 

A GI tag can promote the export of such mangoes internationally, and also enhance its sale locally.  

Dr Shailendra Rajan is Director at Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute For Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow. Views are personal.

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