The whiff of the sweet smell of ripened mangoes was all that the sun-burnt nostrils needed on a hot summer Sunday.
If one had ambled into the Pubic Gardens on the inaugural day of Mango Show 2010 here, the aromatic mix of farm fresh mangoes would have led them inside the majestic Jubilee Hall. Like the piped piper wooed the children of the Germanic town of Hamelin, mangoes of all shapes and sizes drew crowds in hordes.
As many as 240 varieties of mangoes across different categories like table, juicy, pickle, hybrid, coloured and seasonal varieties were on display at the three-day show.
From natural mango varieties such as Dasheri, Neelam, Banganpalli, Panchadara Kalasa and Alphonso to the cross-bred Arka Puneet, Amrapali, Neeleshan, Manjeera and Mallika among others, the king of fruits donned many avatars to keep the crowds entertained.
Weighing between two and three kilogram the mighty Teneru dwarfed the Pancha Rasi that weighed between 50-60 gram while the rotund, cashew-shaped ‘Kaju' variety contrasted with elliptical-oblong shaped Dasheri or the Elephant Head variety.
Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy inaugurated the mango show in the presence of senior officials from Horticulture Department.
The objective of the mango show was to showcase the mango wealth of Andhra Pradesh for the benefit of public, farmers and extension officers, said Director of Horticulture, G. Jayalakshmi. A total of 862 entries were received from 424 participants in different categories this year, she said.
From other States
About 24 varieties received from six States, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were also put on display by the National Horticulture Board, Hyderabad.
It wasn't just a fruit show all along. By-products such as squash, pickle, chutney, juices were also on display apart from packaged and preserved mangoes. The show is on till June 1.
