In an effort to dissuade farmers from using calcium carbide to ripen mangoes, the Department of Horticulture organised a ‘mango mela’ that got under way on Thursday.
The three-day ‘mango mela’ being organised at the MVP Rythu Bazaar had a handful of select farmers put on show some well-known varieties of mangoes which were up for sale at fixed prices.
The show started off to a lacklustre response from the public on Thursday. The department has fixed the prices for different varieties -- Banganapalli (Rs. 40 a kg), Suvarnarekha (Rs. 40), rasalu (Rs 45), Imam Pasand (Rs 50) and Kottapalli Kobbari (Rs 80). “These rates are not remunerative for us,” the farmers, mostly from Nakkapalli mandal, said.
“The general public too are accustomed to carbide ripened mangoes,” they pointed out and said it would require a major change in consumer preference to make them shift to ethylene gas for ripening the king of fruits.
The Horticulture Department is offering a subsidy to use ethylene gas for ripening the fruits in its bid to wean farmers away from use of carbide.
