Food & Beverage News: Fruits & Vegetable - Drop in production, exports make mangoes costly

The avid mango lovers of Mumbai will have to wait till May, for the sky high mango prices to come down. However, the prices will be much higher as compared to the previous year even during the peak season of May, due to the crop failure experienced across the country. Babu Ramchandani, president, All India Fruits Growers and Exporters Association, informed, "The mango production in the current year is 30% less as compared to the previous year. Currently in the retail market mangoes are selling at Rs 250-500 per dozen depending on the size and quality. Some 20% fall in price is expected during the peak season."

The unseasonal rains and the erratic climatic conditions are the prime reasons behind the failure of mango crops in the various regions of Maharashtra. Andhra Pradesh, a major producer of mangoes, is also likely to see about 25% drop in production. Vidyadhar S Malgaonkar, president of Deogadh Amba Utpadak Sahakari Society in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) said, "Extended winter season affected the flowering of mango trees which has resulted in less production. The estimated production of alphonso mango of Deogadh region in the current year will be only 15,000 tonnes as compared to 40,000 tonnes in the previous year."

The Agriculture Products Marketing Council (APMC) in Navi Mumbai is the major supplier of mangoes to the various markets of the city such as Crawford market, Byculla market and several others. In the last summer around 65 lakhs boxes (each box carries 5 to 7 dozens of mangoes) of mangoes had arrived in the APMC fruit market. However, this year only 35 to 40 lakh boxes are expected to arrive during the entire season, informed Balasaheb Bende, director, APMC fruits market. Citing the hike in prices of mangoes, Bende said, "The price of mango increases by 25% as it reaches the retail markets in Mumbai. The rise can be attributed to the spoilage of fruits and expenses involved in the transportation. Currently the best quality mangoes are available at Rs 500-600 per dozen, however the prices will come down to Rs 200-300 per dozen during May."

All of this has severely affected the mango arrivals in the city especially the most favoured alphonso variety is short in supply. Ratnakar Karale of Rajaram Laxman & Co, the president of Crawford fruit market, told Food & Beverage News, "Only 2000 to 3000 boxes of mangoes are daily arriving in the market, as compared to the 10,000 boxes per day in the previous year. While currently the mangoes are sold at Rs 400-500 per dozen, during the same time last year we used to sell it at Rs 250-300 per dozen."

Usually during the peak season the prices of the alphonso variety drop up to Rs 100-150 per dozen. However, this year prices will remain as high as Rs 250-300 per dozen due to short supply, informed Karale.

Meanwhile, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) is gearing up for exporting mangoes to the United States and Japan.

"Preparations are on for large-scale exports to Japan. While the protocol with the US has been signed, we are waiting for final clearance from their side. However, the shipments to the US (if things go well) will be in small quantities as we have limited irradiation facilities," said K S Money, chairman of Apeda. Quarantine experts from the US are in India to oversee compliance to their standards of irradiation, said an Apeda official.

Apeda has set up an irradiation facility in association with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for disinfecting and improving the shelf life of mangoes to be exported to the US. Major export markets for Indian mangoes are Bangladesh, West Asia, South East Asia, Britain and other European countries. During the year 2004-05, about 52,000 tonnes of mangoes were exported, which went up to 58,000 tonnes in 2005-06.

India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world, with an estimated annual production of 12 million tonnes against the total world production of 24 million tonnes. The mango season in the country is mainly from February to August. The major mango producing states are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar.