Unusual drop in yield makes mangoes pricey
Even though the prices are high, almost 90 per cent of farmers are facing huge losses this season
Mangoes seen in fruit market
COIMBATORE: Mangoes have gotten pricey this year due to a drastic drop in their yield in Salem, the largest producer of the yellow fruit in Tamil Nadu, because of an acute dry spell.
“Prices of all varieties of mangoes have shot up by 40 to 50 per cent due to a considerable drop in its production. Farmers have managed to harvest barely ten per cent of the usual yield,” said J Sreenivasan, a wholesale mango merchant in Salem.
Prices of some premium mango varieties like ‘Imam Pasand’ and ‘Salem Bangalora’, which were sold between Rs 150 to Rs 180 last year, have escalated from Rs 200 to Rs 250 in the retail market. After a low yield last year, the farmers were hoping for better produce this season as usually a good year of harvest is alternated with a bad season.
“But the continuous dry spell and unfavourable climatic conditions caused flowers to shed without bearing fruits. The yield of mangoes is generally influenced by summer showers during the months of March and April. This year, the peak mango season was delayed by almost a month in April and is likely to end early by this month’s end. Even though the prices are high, almost 90 per cent of farmers are facing a huge loss because of poor crop yield,” he added.
It has been one of the long-time demands of farmers to fix MSP and get GI tags for mangoes produced in Salem. Currently, the Salem market receives just 15 to 20 tonnes of mangoes as against the usual 50 to 80 tonnes, when its harvest remains normal. Because of the poor harvest, the export market of the pulpy fruit has taken a toll.
“The mango arrivals are inadequate even to meet the domestic demand, which is also our priority. So exports have not been done for this season,” said R Vinod, another mango trader.
Several varieties of mangoes like ‘Malgova’, ‘Alphonsa, ‘Senthoora’, ‘Imam Pasand’, ‘Nadusala’, and other types are grown in abundance in the orchards of Salem. While mangoes harvested in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts were mainly meant for pulp production, the fruits from Salem have a unique taste and are favoured by people across Tamil Nadu.
