India's mango paradox

India's mango paradox

From Daybreak by The Ken

June 10, 2026 · 12 min · Episode 769

About this episode

The episode explores the challenges faced by India's mango exports due to pesticide issues and international bans.

This week, Nepal sent Indian mango shipments back to the border after inspectors found excessive pesticide residues . A few weeks earlier, Japan had suspended all Indian mango imports after a biosecurity inspection failure at a treatment facility in Uttar Pradesh. Two bans in one season and this was before the war in Iran tripled freight costs and shut the Gulf route entirely. Mirza Ghalib, the famous Urdu poet, famously had just two requirements of a mango — to be sweet and plentiful. This season, the country that grows half the world's supply couldn't guarantee either to the rest of the world. How did we get here? Host Snigdha Sharma explores. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

People in this episode

Host: Snigdha Sharma

Topics covered

  • mango exports
  • pesticide residues
  • biosecurity
  • international trade
  • agriculture
  • India
  • food safety

Keywords

  • mango
  • pesticides
  • Nepal
  • Japan
  • biosecurity
  • exports
  • India
  • agriculture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nepal, Japan

Products: mango

Books & works: Mirza Ghalib

Places: Uttar Pradesh, Iran, Gulf

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