The days of mango farmers allowing traders to fix the price for their fruit will be a thing of the past if the strategy of the Horticulture Department works.
The ban on the use of the carcinogenic calcium carbide for the ripening of mango fruit will go a long way in liberating farmers from the clutches of unscrupulous traders, who give them advances and then force them to sell at low prices.
The Horticulture Department is making use of the overwhelming public response for ‘carbide-free' mango for the benefit of small and marginal mango growers. Farmers are making a 40 per cent to 50 per cent profit margin in the sale of ‘carbide-free' mango. Kasarla Madhusudhana Rao has a mango grove at Maddulaparva village in Reddigudem mandal. He cultivates ‘bangenapalli', ‘chinnarasalu', and ‘peddarasalu'. After value addition, that is getting the mango ripened in an ethylene ripening chamber, he earned an impressive Rs. 1,05,000 for three tonnes of mango. The price he would have got had he sold it to the traders was Rs. 55,000 to Rs. 65,000. Similarly, Ramisetti Sambasiva Rao of Nuzvid mandal got Rs. 38,000 per one tonne of mango after value addition instead of the maximum Rs. 20,000 from traders. More and more such success stories are being heard with the passing of every day. Assistant Director of Horticulture R. Rama Mohan, talking to The Hindu , said farmers were losing out because of some wrong marketing practices. Small farmers were harvesting the fruit even before it was fully mature to get the early bird advantage at the behest of traders. This affected both the quality of the fruit and returns because the immature fruit was lower in weight.
Tips for farmers
Mr. Rama Mohan said the farmers can make a 40 per cent to 50 per cent profit margin by following some simple guidelines.
The fruit should be harvested with the stalk using a Dapoli harvester. This would ensure the sap does not fall on the fruit and leave permanent stains. After harvesting, the stalk should be removed and the fruit should put on de-sapping tables for six hours. The fruit should be transported using plastic crates and then be washed mechanically with water, in fungicide solution and warm water. After being washed and dried, they should be put in the ripening chamber for 12- 24 hours.
Ripening with ethylene gas would give the fruit a uniform colour unlike in carbide ripening, Mr. Rama Mohan said.
The fruit should then be put for two days in cold storage and then transported to the market in proper corrugated cardboard boxes in refrigerated trucks.
The ethylene ripening gave the fruit longer shelf life, he said. The equipment for cleaning and ripening mangoes was available at the Nuzvid Integrated Packing Unit, he added.
