Unseasonal shower proves sour for sweet mango production, damages vegetables also

Pune: The recent showers damaged almost 70% of the mango crop in the Konkan area besides spoiling leafy greens, tomatoes and onions in the state, prompting chances of rise in vegetables' prices.

A senior agriculture department official told TOI that the maximum damage was caused to the mangoes. They were in their flowering stage in Konkan.

The agriculture department is still counting the losses caused by the rain because of cyclone Ockhi but rough estimates of the All India Vegetables Growers' Association revealed that the damage to all vegetables had been 70% or more. Reason: vegetables like leafy greens, onions and tomatoes in fields in Nashik, Konkan and Kolhapur districts are catching bacterial and fungal infections.

The damage to vegetables may push their prices north again. The rates had dipped recently because of surplus supply of vegetables.

A source said this year had been quite bad for vegetables because of the untimely rain during Diwali, followed by the recent spell now. Both the spells adversely affected vegetables because apart from the showers, the humidity content in the air is high during such periods.

Shriram Gadhave, the president of the Vegetable Growers' Association of India, told TOI that though the rain had been light over the past two to three days, the reported damage in crops was significant because of fungal and bacterial diseases catching crops. "Major sufferers have been chillies, tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower and fenugreek with around 70-80% crops affected. The continuous humidity has also been adding to our problems. Consequently, the prices of vegetables may rise in the next few days," he said.

An Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) official said though the supply of vegetables to the market had been close to normal, the effect of the recent rain would be known in the next few days. "If there has been damage on fields, prices may double or triple in the coming days," he said.

Sanjay Pawar, a grower in Nashik, has seen an average loss of 40% on his fields because of the recent rainy spell — the highest in onions, tomatoes, soybean and cotton. "Foodgrains have been affected, too, because the rain results in colour damage. Out of the 100kg expected during a harvest, only 60kg seem to be marketable. Close to 40% onions we are harvesting turn out wet and damaged. In tomatoes, which are in the flowering stages, there has been significant flower drop. It means the flowers lost would not be able to fruit," he said.

Pawar added that the rise in prices of vegetables might be as near as eight to 10 days in the face of shortage.

Another vegetable grower, Dnyaneshwar Hinge, said with the moisture content high, losses in many vegetables would be to the tune of 30-50%, including coriander, tomatoes and onions. "Vegetable prices had only recently dipped after supplies normalized following the rainy spell during Diwali. The recent rain may again push up the prices in the face of supply shortage," he said.