Mango mela to begin in Dharwad today

Dharwad: The horticulture department will organize a 5-day mango mela at its office on Railway Station Road here from Saturday.
The mela is intended to facilitate direct contact between mango growers and consumers. In recent years it has become common for the mango traders to purchase mangos from growers early in the season, ripen them using chemicals and then selling them to consumers. These artificially ripened mangoes are said to be unsafe and hence farm scientists and horticulture officials are trying to encourage natural ripening of fruits.
The mela will allow farmers who bring naturally ripened mangoes to the market and enable them to sell directly to consumers. This will be the eighth edition of the mela. Stalls are being provided to registered growers free of cost.
Normally people in the region stop eating mango after ‘Kaar Hunnime’ (full moon day) in the belief that it will not be hygienic to eat Mango after it starts raining. The full moon day falls on June 17.
Mango is grown in large quantities in Kelgeri, Chikkamalligawad, Tegur in Dharwad taluk and Kalghatagi and Hubballi taluk. The farmers will bring a variety of mangos to the mela.
The mango orchards in the region have 90 per cent of Alphonso (Aapus) variety. Along with this, totapuri, sindhu, kalmi,mallika, mavakur and other varieties will be available in the mela.
Several varieties of mangos like Bala Maavu, Vibhuti Maavu, Kari Maavu, Chandana Maavu, Jeeragi, Sakkari Butli, Chitra Pairi, Neelam and Sanneli Maavu which were grown and sold in large quantity in the region about 15-20 years ago are not to be seen now. Farmers say these varieties were not profitable and hence they were focusing on Alphonso. As a result, these varieties have become extinct in the region. Farm scientists say these varieties had medicinal value.
Speaking to TOI, assistant director of horticulture Praveen Kamati expressed confidence that the mela will be successful like its previous editions. “Farmers have been instructed to bring only naturally ripened, good quality fruits. The price will be fixed based on the quality. Though there has been a decline in yield due to climatic variation, the supply is sufficient to meet demand. The mela will help both growers and buyers,” Praveen said and added that this year mango purchased from Hopcoms will also be on sale at the mela.
In May 2018, as many as 12,932 dozens of mangoes were sold at the mela.