Surat APMC comes to rescue of Valsad, Navsari mango farmers

Surat: At a time when the farmers in south Gujarat’s mango bowl — Valsad and Navsari — are struggling to find buyers and labourers to pluck their ready harvest, Surat’s Agriculture Market Produce Committee (APMC) has come to their rescue.
For the first time, the Surat APMC has started sourcing the alphonso and kesar varieties directly from the mango orchards in Valsad and Navsari and bringing it all the way to Surat. These mangoes will be on sale at six designated vegetable markets.
When the first lot of 20 metric tonne of alphonso and kesar mangoes reached the designated vegetable markets on Thursday, the Surtis bought it all. “Not a single box of mango was left unsold on the very first day,” said Nilesh Thorat, secretary of APMC. “We are doing this for the first time to help the farmers, who are facing shortage of labourers and the buyers from Mumbai and other places due to lockdown,” added Thorat.
According to Thorat, APMC plans to sell 2 lakh metric tonne of mangoes in Surat in the coming days. The mangoes from the orchards are packed in boxes on the highway and loaded in the transport vehicle.
“It is like hitting two birds with one stone. Farmers of Valsad and Navsari were not getting buyers and people in Surat wanted mangoes. We have set the target of selling about 2 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes in Surat” says Raman Jani, chairman of APMC.
What’s more. Compared to last year, residents in the city will be able to buy mangoes at discounted rates as there are no middlemen involved.
“We are selling mangoes on no-profit-no-loss basis to help the farmers. Compared rate of Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,800 per 20 kg last year, the prices this year are at the lower side of Rs 1,400 per 20kg,” said Jani. Sanjay Naik, a farmer in Gandeva village in Valsad said, “We have now got a ready market in the lockdown and our mangoes will not go waste.”