The annual mango harvest has already begun in the Darwin area but is still several weeks away in the home of the mango at Katherine.

The past week’s unseasonal heavy rain may delay the start of the harvest from 180,000 trees in the Katherine region but quality is still looking good.

Australian Mango Industry Association marketing manager Treena Welch said growers want to use social media to help market Australia’s favorite fruit.

The association is promoting a mango emoji, a ideogram or smiley popularly used online through smartphones and computers.

Ms Welch said wants mango fans to pressure the Unicode Consortium to develop a mango emoji.