Forecasts of a rise in mango exports could be affected by the collapse of a company that owns a mango farm in Western Australia.

Mango farmer Rewards Group was put into receivership in May. The company owns Western Australia's largest mango plantation in the Ord Valley.

Approximately 700 tonnes of mangoes from 120,000 trees will be left hanging until rotten if the receivers do not allow concerned groups to act. The Rewards Growers advocacy group's Mike Butler has been pushing for the harvest of this year's crop.

Butler said, “We've secured the funding for it and the picking will commence in the next couple of weeks.” However, the group will “use alternative equipment and alternative packing if need be” since the receivers have locked up the buildings which house the machines for packing.

The Rewards group keeps the state's largest mango packing shed. The packing machinery cost almost $6 million and is designed to handle 1.2 million trays of mangoes. It was used for the first time during the 2008 mango season.

The Ord Valley Mango Growers Association president Chris Robinson expressed concerns over marketing the mangoes. He pointed out that the plantation put 100,000 trays of mangoes into the market last year.

Robinson said, “they'll be able to do that again this year, although they are running late to put in a proper marketing plan.”

In 2009, the farm was able to produce a quarter of the state's mango production.