23 May,2011 06:24 AM IST | | Sheetal Sukhija
Escalating prices lead to a 30 per cent drop in demand of mangoes this year
BANGALOREANS appear to be foregoing on the mangoes this season, and it is not the dearth of availability, but the skyrocketing prices and a 30 per cent drop in demand that is putting them off.
Alphonso mangoes recorded the highest demand. Initially, the wholesale cost was Rs 24 per kg, but now it is being sold at Rs 90 per kg
While some farmers bringing their produce into the city feel that the move by Horticultural Producers' Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society Ltd (HOPCOMS) to modulate the prices to please the common man might affect their profits. Thus, they are left with no choice but to hike the prices.
Rain, tax are spolier
Alphonso mangoes recorded the highest demand, and the price wholesale cost was initially Rs 24 per kg, but is being sold at Rs 90 per kg. Farmers selling their produce wholesale at Lal Bagh Horticulture Centre are blaming the untimely downpour and the APMC tax policy.
"We have had a decent produce this year, but it is nothing compared to the last three years. The heavy rains have spoiled a large part of our produce and since this is our livelihood, the prices have been hiked," said Shantappa, a farmer from Chikkaballapur.
The Karnataka Horticulture Department was expecting to receive 7 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes, but with the rains destroying the crops and the department is trying hard to put up 15-18 stalls for the Mango Mela.
"Mangoes are being brought from Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Ramnagar and Kolar this year and about 12 varieties of mangoes will be sold at Lal Bagh. A price rise has been recorded and we hope that by mid-harvest, the prices will fall," said Dr SV Hittanamani, additional director, Karnataka Horitculture Department.
Hittanamani added, "Certain pockets of the state did receive much rain, because of which the crops were destroyed, but we are trying our best to cope so that the common man can enjoy the fruit.
While the Horticulture department is trying to modulate the prices to please the common man, the farmers are displeased about the same.
Affecting farmers
"We have paid huge taxes to get the fruit into the city and with the horticulture department deciding to modulate the prices through the Mango Mela, it may add to our troubles. Bulk orders have dropped by 50 per cent," explained Nanjegowda, a farmer from Chikkaballapur.
HOPCOMS centres across the city too have recorded a drop in the bulk orders they receive from hotels in the city.
"We used to sell almost 55 per cent of the mangoes in the first few weeks of May to star hotels. But this year, many of our clients have been reluctant to buy in bulk," said a HOPCOMS official at the Banashankari centre.
