No takers for poor quality Alphonso mangoes this season

PUNE: There are chances that you might not get to relish Alphonso mangoes this Akshaya Tritiya as the sale of mangoes has fallen by nearly 20 per cent compared to last year, because of high prices and  spoiling of the fruit due to the high temperature.

According to experts from Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard Adate Association (SCSMYAA) and members of Mahatma Phule Market Fruit Association, the poor quality of Alphonso mangoes was one of the main reasons for the low sale this year and thus the overall slump in sales of mangoes.

“The supply of Ratnagiri Alphonsos and mangoes from South India have improved since last week but the demand has not picked up yet. Interestingly, it is on Akshaya Tritiya that there is a surge in demand, but this year it is 20 per cent less than last year. Normally by now, there used to be no boxes left in the godown but this year, we have more than 4,000 boxes left, “ said  SCSMYAA Vice-President Yuvraj Kachi.

“It is not only Akshaya Tritiya, but the overall demand for mangoes has reduced owing to the initial low supply in the market. In the first phase of Alphonsos from Ratnagiri and Devgad, supply was 40 per cent less than usual and thus the prices were very high. It was sold for Rs 4,000 to 5,000 per dozen. This was one of the reasons why people did not buy many mangoes, but now when the prices have gone down, the demand has not increased,” added Kachi.

SCSMYAA Secretary Rohan Ursal said, “The ideal temperature for mangoes to ripen is around 37 degrees but the sudden hike in temperature till 43 degrees spoiled the fruit. It got boiled. This impacted the quality of mangoes and thus there are less buyers.”

“Although, the supply of mangoes has increased, there are not many buyers this year. We are not able to understand why there is less demand this season. One reason can be low quality of mangoes as people expect that if they are spending money they should get good quality,” said Karan Jadhav, a mango wholesaler at Market Yard.

“There is no money in the market and people have a budget constraint, so they are not buying in bulk like last year. Another reason is the low quality of mangoes and a lot of mangoes got spoilt due to the sudden rise in temperature. If a person is buying one dozen mangoes at Rs 600 and is unable to get good quality why will she/he buy mangoes,” said  Mahatma Phule Market Fruit Association Member Nilesh Dimbar. 

“This year, the sale has been reduced by 15 to 20 per cent during Akshaya Tritiya as it falls in the first week of May and normally people are out on vacations. However, we hope that the sale will increase after this week.” said Desai Bandhu Ambewala Director Mandar Desai.

“This year the sale has reduced as normally people used to buy two to four dozens but this time they are buying only one dozen or six pieces. The soaring temperature destroyed the mangoes and that is why people are not buying it,” said Mangesh Lahare, a mango vendor.

“There are less customers this year and no one is buying in bulk. A lot of consumers did not come out to buy because of the hot weather and that might be one of the reasons for low sales,” said Nanda Kanchi, a mango vendor at Mahatma Phule Mandai.