End of mango season sees rise in prices

Yield came down this year due to inadequate and late rains, and a prolonged dry spell

As the season of mangos comes to an end, prices have risen by an average of 20% over the past 10 days. According to farmers, the late arrival of varieties like Thotapuri, Benisha, and Neelam, and that they won’t be easily available after July due to low yield, has driven prices up.

Badami, which was retailing at ₹75-80 per kg in the initial weeks of June, has gone up to ₹92. Mallika, which was selling for ₹70-75 during the second week of the month, has now risen to ₹85. Interestingly, Malagova has consistently been ₹120 throughout June.

Late arrivals like Thotapuri, which was being sold for around ₹28 per kg till the second week of June, is currently retailing at ₹42 per kg at Hopcoms. One of the few exceptions is the Neelam variety, which has dropped to ₹45 from ₹52 over the last 10 days.

“Traders are happy as they say they are finally making a decent profit. Fifteen days ago, the price was very low. Now, from the past 10 days, there has been an increase,” said Sameer Ahmad, a seller in K.R. Puram Market.

Nature plays truant

According to farmers, the yield has came down by around 50% due to inadequate and late rains resulting in a prolonged dry spell in mango growing areas, such as Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Ramanagara, which has affected the farmers and traders alike this year.

G.R. Srinivasan Nandi, former chairman of HOPCOMS and a mango grower, said that farmers had to suffer this year due to excessive heat that slowed the flowering process, which in turn affected blossoming.

Shivananjappa, a farmer from Srinivasapur, added, “Withering of fruits at the flowering stage made the situation worse for us. When we were recovering from this, there were a few spell of pre-monsoon rains with strong winds that destroyed some of the crop.”

Farmers feel that the government should have given fly traps to them to deal with mango fruit flies during April and May. The pests attack semi ripe and mature fruits resulting in irreparable damage to the crop.

K. Srinivasa Gowda, a mango grower from Chikkaballapur, said that lack of post harvest techniques also causes losses this year. “Last year, I grew around 75 tonnes of Thotapuri. This year, I could grow only 35 tonnes. I lost my crops due to insects and untimely rains”, he said.