Low production: No party for ‘aam aadmi’ as mango prices mount
LUCKNOW: The king of fruits is set to get pricier this season.
Mango production has crashed in India’s largest producer of the fruit, Uttar Pradesh, and prices of your favourite Dasheri or Langra are likely to be sky high in the peak season of the summer delicacy.
A series of dust storms and unexpectedly humid weather in UP impeded the flowering of mango trees, and ultimately soured yield, which is down 65% compared to that of last year. “Summers are remembered for only two things — vacations and mangoes. But I fear the high price will make it out of my reach,” said Vaibhav Nigam, a college student in Lucknow.
The state had a record yield last year of 4.4 million metric tonnes and mango prices hovered between ₹20 and ₹40 a kg. With produce pegged at just 1.5 million tonnes this year, the rates are expected to soar two to three times. UP’s mangogrowers have no other option left now but to hope for the best. “Crop is poor this time, which was not at all expected,” said Mohammed Miyan, a mango grower in Mallihabad.
UP has 250,000 hectares under mango cultivation and produces nearly a quarter of India’s mangoes, including popular varieties such as Chausa, Dusheri, Fazli, Gulab Khas, Langra and Mallika.
Mango-growers say unseasonal flowering of the mango tree in January gave them hope but in a month, the flowers began to shed under an onslaught of dust storms.
Others said “strong humid winds” forced them to double pesticide sprinkling to save the trees from pests, ultimately affecting the health and taste of the fruit.
Uneven temperatures also hit the fruit. “This year, the mango belt experienced temperature below 10 degree Celsius during night that kept the pollinators at bay, thus affecting the crop,” said Dr Shailendra Rajan, director ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture. He said ideal temperature was between 16 and 20 Degree Celsius.
But some of the older and more experienced farmers said they expected the yield to be lower after last year’s bumper crop as mango is a biennial tree.
The growers have now demanded a loan waiver from the state government. “We have also demanded inclusion of mangoes in the PM crop insurance scheme to protect us from onslaught of nature and crop loss,” said Insram Ali, president of the All India Mango Growers’ Association (AIMGA).
But none of this is likely to soothe the likes of Mohammad Aslam, who fear having to go without their fill of the fruit. “What are summers without juicy mangoes? I hope and pray that the reports (of poor mango crop) are wrong,” he said.