Erratic weather may spoil mango party

Production of the fruit likely to decline 25-30%.

Mango, the king of fruits, is likely to be expensive this year. Uneven temperature and unseasonal rains have affected nearly 25-30 per cent of mango crops in various parts of the country.

"Andhra Pradesh is likely to see about 25 per cent decline in output as heavy rains and the consequent floods damaged the mango crop. The arrivals are also delayed this time," said Anil Punetha, horticulture commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, the country's largest mango producing state.

"Pest attack together with wavering temperature has caused damage to almost 50 per cent of the crop this year. Mangoes that were selling at Rs 600-1000 (per 15 kg case) are now selling at Rs 800-2000," said Vidyadhar S Malgaonkar, president of Deogarh Mango Growers' Society in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra). Deogarh, which produced 40,000 tonne Alphonso mango last year, is likely to produce 20,000 tonne this year.

"Owing to the erratic climatic conditions, the flowering is lower this year. Mango arrivals are expected to be lower by 25-30 per cent compared with last year. In North, arrival of Langra and Dushehri will be affected while in West, Alphonso arrival will suffer. Prices are also expected to rule 20-30 per cent higher over the last year," said Sunil Bansal, chief executive officer (Fruit and Vegetable Business) of Mother Dairy.

Meanwhile, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) is gearing up for exporting mangoes to the United States and Japan.

"Preparations are on for large-scale exports to Japan. While the protocol with the US has been signed, we are waiting for final clearance from their side. However, the shipments to the US (if things go well) will be in small quantities as we have limited irradiation facilities," said K S Money, chairman of Apeda. Quarantine experts from the US are in India to oversee compliance to their standards of irradiation said an Apeda official.

Apeda has set up an irradiation facility in association with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for disinfecting and improving the shelf life of mangoes to be exported to the US. Major export markets for Indian mangoes are Bangladesh, West Asia, South East Asia, Britain and other European countries. During the year 2004-05, 52,000 tonne mango was exported, which went up to 58,000 tonne in 2005-06.

India is the largest producer of mango in the world, with an estimated annual production of 12 million tonne against the total world production of 24 million tonne. The mango season in the country is mainly from February to August. The major mango producing states are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar.