Till Saturday, for 10-year-old Vishnu G., images of his favourite fruit were confined to the supermarket or in roadside carts.
While he has eaten numerous mangoes in the past, does he — and many others in the cities — know the complex processes that take the “King of fruits” from the tree to his home?
“Mango is my favourite fruit and I am interested in learning how it is grown and the treatment involved in it before sending it to the markets,” he said.
When he reached the farms, Vishnu was allowed to pick mangoes, and then explained how it is treated. As the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation (KSMDMC) expands “mango picking tourism”, more city-dwellers are given a peek into the nuances behind producing the fruit. “Mangoes available in the city don’t taste all that good and are clearly infected with chemicals. Through this tour, we can figure out natural mangoes from the chemically-enhanced ones,” said Kishore Reddy, a professor who was a part of the tour.
Increasing popularity
It was last year that a “trial” run of the tours were conducted with just two buses and with little publicity, around 350 people took three tours that were arranged.
This year, the number has already touched 320 in two tours — with many more remaining till the end of the mango season in June (arranged every Sunday).
On April 23, 110 people went to Mandikal village in Chikkaballapur, while on Saturday four packed buses with more than 210 people made their way to Venkatrayadoddi village in Ramanagaram district and Dalasanur village in Kolar district.
“We have kept the cost low, at ₹100, to encourage more people to participate. For the consumer, it helps in gaining awareness about various mango varieties and what to look out for in selecting quality mangoes — particularly those that have not been treated with carbides.
For farmers, this is a direct linkage to consumers so that they can sell mangoes at better costs,” said Kadire Gowda, Managing Director of KSMDMC.
The tours were flagged off during a programme on Saturday, where city Mayor G. Padmavathi said,
“This is a very good initiative ... This is also a huge boost for farmers as there are no middle men between consumers and producers.”
