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.
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“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.