Headlines
After unseasonal rains, 'aam' set to be a 'VIP' this season
By
Mohit DubeyLucknow, April 19
'Aam' or the mango - the
summer delight for millions across India - might finally be a 'VIP'
this season. This, as unseasonal rains have wreaked havoc on the
harvest and production is likely to dip by over 30 percent. While heavy
and gutsy winds have brought down most of the 'baur' (mango flower),
much of the remaining has been hit by fungal attack due to moisture.
Mango
growers in Uttar Pradesh rue the fact that unseasonal rain, hailstorms
and inclement weather could actually spike the harvest further, leaving
fewer mangoes and out of reach of commoners. The prices, they warn, are
going to rise steeply. The western belt of mango orchards and the
Mallihabad belt have taken the brunt of the rain over the past few
weeks.
In Saharanpur, 70-75 per cent of the mango crop has been
damaged, leaving growers haunted with the spectre of "very poor
yield". The crop damage becomes more worrying as last year, the extreme
heat of June had damaged the mangoes. With the temperatures
comparatively low in April, mango growers point out that the fruit will
take time to ripen and could miss the domestic and export markets.
Shabi-ul-Hasan,
a major mango exporter from Saharanpur, said he is keeping his fingers
crossed for the next few weeks, adding that "as of now, the crop has
been badly hit" owing to the rains.
The western belt of UP -
Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Shamli, Saharanpur, Syana in Bulandshahr,
Shikarpur and Gulawathi - export more than 200 tonnes of various mango
varieties to the Gulf countries, Europe and the US.
In 2014, the
crop damage was not as bad as this year and the exports had dropped to a
mere 40 tonnes. Mango exporters are worried that this year could
"render a body blow" to the harvest.
The Rataul mangoes, which
make Baghpat a favoured export centre, has also witnessed extensive
damage. The situation is similar in Mallihabad, neighbouring state
capital of Lucknow, where the famous Dussehri variety comes from.
Haji
Qalimulla, an eminent mango grower referred to as 'Mango Man', feared
that the cost of Dussehri, the commom man's 'darling fruit', could cost
an additional Rs 10-20 this time round. He also said that making any
more predictions on the mango harvest could be dicy as rains have been
unseasonally coming and going. Any further rain could further scale-up
the prices.
The situation is the same for the Chaunsa, Safeda and other varieties grown in the state.
Mango
is grown over almost 300,000 hectares and the yield varies from 3.5-4.2
million tonnes. While a sizeable chunk is exported, the rest is
consumed domestically. So, brace up for the sweet mango season to be
slightly bitter and out of reach!
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at [email protected])