South Gujarat: In hafoos kingdom, kesar is now the king

SURAT: Mango lovers may find this difficult to digest. But, believe it or not, the luscious kesar has toppled the famed Valsadi hafoos (alphonso) on its home turf - south Gujarat.
Official figures of the state horticulture department reveal that kesar now accounts for over half of the total area under mango cultivation in the seven districts of south Gujarat with farmers themselves opting for this variety.
Of the total three lakh tonne mango production in south Gujarat this season, kesar accounted for 1.80 lakh tonnes while hafoos was around 75,000 tonnes.
“Of the total 97,646 hectare (ha) land under mango cultivation, kesar accounts for nearly 55%,” said Dinesh Padaliya, deputy director, horticulture department Surat.
In Navsari APMC, 70% of the total one lakh boxes (each of 20kg) that came for auction were kesar, its secretary Darshan Desai told TOI. Around 33,320 hectare are under mango cultivation in Navsari district, 80% is kesar now.
In fact, the APMC this year has prepared a video song to promote 'Navsari kesar'. "We have recently launched this promotional song as we want to more and more people to consume kesar,” said Desai.
Mukund Naik, an orchard owner in Umargam taluka of Valsad, said, “I replaced Valsadi hafoos in 10 bigha land with kesar. Alphonso is extremely weather sensitive and a slight change causes big damage. Pesticide cost is also increasing. Over all input costs have increased which has makes kesar a better option.”
“For the first time this year, kesar sold for Rs 1,200 per 20 kg while alphonso fetched Rs 800 per 20 kg,” added Naik.
Samir Vashi, who runs a mango saplings nursery in Ambheta village of Navsari, said, “Kesar saplings are in hot demand as farmers are getting good prices for their produce. Kesar farming is not new here, but there has been a significant increase in its cultivation now.”
Sanjay Naik, a farmer in Gandeva village in Navsari told TOI, “Now, we have barely 100 trees of alphonso in our two hectare orchard and 2,000 kesar trees. Alphonso being very sensitive to climate and susceptible to disease, we have reduced its cultivation.”