This winter, Maharashtra can taste Alphonso from Africa

MUMBAI: Around a decade back, grafts of Alphonso-Hapus — the king of the fruit —from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri were planted in Malawi in Africa. The fruit is back in the off-season to Navi Mumbai via Africa.

Traders as well as consumers say the quality and taste of these mangoes are the same as the Konkan region variety. It is selling for Rs 700-800 a kg.

Sanjay Pansare, former director of Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Vashi, says the grafting was done in over 1,500 acres of land.

“They planted 400 trees per acre. The fruit tastes like Alphonso. The only difference is that its harvesting cycle is different as Malawi is in the Southern Hemisphere,” Pansare said.

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa. Itshorticulture is a large sector, with a warm soil suitable for mangoes.

With mangoes being a lucrative produce, more ventures might come up. Pansare said the mango lover does not need to wait for the summer.

“They can have it during Diwali as well. The initial reluctance can eventually give way to happy acceptance among the fruit lovers”.

The season for this Alphonso stretches for a month starting November, Pansare said. The all-pervading smell of Alphonso would force sellers to import more of such variety, says a trader.

“The availability of this mango in the winters is nothing short of a miracle.”

In Vashi, the first batch of 1,500 boxes arrived Wednesday, of which 500 were dispatched to Pune.

“Once traders get a good response, they will start importing it in a large quantity via sea routes. That will reduce the import cost substantially,” Pansare said.