Those who waited for the summer only to relish the king of fruits are a disheartened lot for two reasons. One is the steep rise in the price of mangoes in the retail market; the other is the relatively low quality of mangoes, compared to last year.
In the State’s mango capital of Krishnagiri, an oft aired grievance apart from the soaring temperature this summer is that of the poor quality of mangoes and the high prices.
Poor rainfall has cut down the yield, sending the prices spiralling upward this mango season. Its not as though high prices have brought cheer to the farmers; the benefit has been rendered negligible by a drop in production, they say.
“This year, the prices are very high, but the production has fallen by 75%, and this has hurt the farmers”, says Vijaya Kumar, a mango grower.
“Take for instance the Sindhura variety. An acre would normally yield 10 tonnes. This year, an acre has yielded only 1.5 tonnes,” he laments.
“We expected this to be a not-so-good year,” says Mr. Vijay Kumar, who cultivates on 2.5 acres of leased land. He also sells them directly in the retail market. Usually, a good year alternates with a bad year.
The harvest was good last year, but the prices were low, he says.
Poor rainfall impact
Poor rainfall during the flowering stage, and sustained dry weather had hit the production, and also the quality of the yield.
On the one hand, farmers harvested just about 25 % of the usual yield and then the quality of the yield itself was poor. Because of this, the mangoes for exports are affected as well.
This year, the farmgate price of one kg of Sindura is ₹25 to ₹30 and the price of the same at the traders’ end is ₹50 per kg, he says.
“But, there will always be the local market. The high price is only partial relief for the farm gate market. It may not offset the production loss for the farmers,” says the farmer.