Juicy summer fruit loses its famed sweetness

Artificial ripening causes fall in demand for mangoes

A mango seller waits for customers even as the sale of the king of fruits this summer has seen a dip.

Even as the King of Fruits had a late arrival this summer, there seems to be few takers for the once favourite fruit of all. Piles of the shining yellows are stacked at the fruit shops around the city. Faces with rivulets of sweat running down and hopeful smiles greet the few customers who enquire about the varieties and the prices of their favourite fruit. But this season, the familiar sweet juicy taste of mangoes has disappeared. Wholesale dealers say the mangoes have lost their sweet taste since the fruits are being ripened artificially using chemicals, the main reason for the fall in demand for the fruit. According to them, the sale of mangoes this year has dropped by almost 50 per cent.

The prices too have fallen from Rs. 180 to Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 per dozen. Krishna who has a fruit shop at Dabagardens looks worried as he explains, “This year the market is so dull for mangoes. Even though the fruit entered the market 15 days late, it has been the worst year for the fruit.”

Due to low sales, mango sellers are keeping limited stocks of the fruit. In the past two decades, there was never such a low market for mangoes, claim the mango sellers. “This year, none of the customers are returning back. Most people have been complaining about the lack of sweetness in mangoes,” says Krishna.

Most of the different varieties of mangoes come from the district and neighbouring districts.

The variety of the fruit includes Banginapalli, Cheruku rasalu, Kottapalli kobari, Suvarnarekha, Panchadara kalasa, Totapuri. While Humayunpasant (Imampasant) and Neelam come in lesser quantities. Most of the stocks are procured from Rajahmundry and Nuzvid.

Mango is mostly grown in Nakkapalli, Payakaraopeta, Padmanabham, Bheemunipatnam, Sabbavaram and Makavarapalem mandals in the district. The main mango producing areas in the State are: Nuzvid, Mylavaram, Tiruvuru and Vijayawada in Krishna district, Koduru, Putturu and Tirupati in Chittoor district, Kakinada, Kothapeta and Rajahmundry in East Godavari and Narsapur, Eluru and Tadepalligudem in West Godavari.