Prospects are not so juicy for Muthalamada

Though popular mango varieties continue to fetch better prices in both domestic and international markets, the scene is not so juicy for Kerala’s mango hub Muthalamada in Palakkad district because of poor yield.

The fruit has started to ripen but farmers say there is a drop of more than 60% in production when compared to previous years, largely owing to climate change.

Spread in 45,000 hectares of land, mango orchards in Muthalamada, sharing borders with Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, accounts for about 70% of the mango production in the State.

In the coming weeks, buyers will flock the region. The Agriculture Department estimates that the production this season would be between 25,000 tonnes and 30,000 tonnes. The output, which was more than 1,50,000 tonnes once, started declining last year.

There could be a shortage of ₹275 crore in sale this year. Muthalamada used to earn around ₹600 crore a year. It was following Cyclon Ockhi in December that the region started witnessing a change in climate conditions. A thick fog started engulfing the region and, as a result, mango flowers started to wither. Premature loss of the fruit was high this time.

First to reach markets

Muthalamada is the biggest centre of mango production in the country and the fruit varieties are the first to reach global markets, much before the fruit matures in the gardens of the competitors, chiefly Peru and Venezuela. “Exporters have already started arriving in our village. The yield is not high, the demand is huge. In the country, harvesting begins in Muthalamada first, by March end every year, and the season continues till the end of July,” Mohan Kumar, general secretary, Muthalamada Mango Merchants Association, says.

In the face of allegations that the orchards use heavy doses of pesticides, many have come up with organically cultivated mangoes, priced higher.

Muthalamada resident and environmentalist S. Guruvayurappan said the panchayat produces almost all the sought-after varieties of mangoes in India — Alphonso, Neelam, Mallika, Malgova, Chenthooram.

P.K. Haneefa, secretary, Mango Farmers Association, says the panchayat has over 600 contractors, 36 exporters, and 20 mango-parking facilities. They provide jobs to 15,000 people as fruit pluckers, sorters, and packers.