AlUla, Umluj celebrate superfood with mango festivals

Mangoes are considered a superfood because it contains more than 20 vitamins and minerals in a single fruit. (AFP)

• AlUla governorate is home to many farms producing mangoes
• AlUla’s Mangoes Week, which started on Monday, coincides with a similar festival being held in Umluj to honor the fruit

RIYADH: A Saudi governorate has launched a week of festivities to celebrate one of its most important agricultural products — mangoes.
The event running daily from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Al-Manshiyah Farmers Market in AlUla, is part of a Royal Commission for AlUla initiative to improve the competitiveness of locally grown produce. Located in the northwest of the Kingdom, AlUla governorate is home to many farms producing mangoes, a fruit considered a superfood due to it containing more than 20 different vitamins and minerals.
The province is also known for its oranges, sweet lemons, limes, tangerines, pomegranates, and grapes.
AlUla’s Mangoes Week, which started on Monday, coincides with a similar festival being held in Umluj to honor the fruit.
A total of 24 mango growers will be exhibiting at the four-day Umluj event, running daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., which has been organized by the Tabuk regional bureau of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, represented by the provincial Ministry of Environment office.
According to the RCU, mangoes are the third-most important agricultural product in Saudi Arabia after dates and citrus fruits.
Commission data shows the mango cultivation area in AlUla covering around 255 hectares (630 acres), producing 1,600 tons of produce a year.
Several varieties of imported mango trees are also successfully grown in the Kingdom, with farmers in Jazan having cultivated them for many years.