A bumper yield of mango crop in Bihar, combined with early ripening of the fruit due to the severe heat this summer, has left growers despairing over huge potential losses, instead of profits they were hoping for.
Not all are complaining though.
People who could not afford to put the ‘king of fruit’ on the plate for their families are making merry this time, since the fruit is now available for as low as Rs5 (28 fils) per kg in some places in Bihar.
“It may sound a bit strange or simply unbelievable, but different varieties of mango are selling for as low as Rs5 to Rs8 in some pockets of Bihar, thanks to overproduction and severe heatwave that caused the fruit to ripen faster,” an official said on Monday.
About 85,000 tonnes of mangoes have been harvested in Bhagalpur district this season, said V.K. Pandit, a horticulture official in Bhagalpur.
A record production and less demand from neighbouring Jharkhand state and other parts of Bihar led to low prices of mangoes, he said.
“Rain earlier this season helped mangoes to grow fast and subsequent high temperature helped ripen them faster, making a perfect recipe for disaster,” said Viswa Bandhu Patel, chairman of the horticulture department at Bihar Agricultural University in Sabour, Bhagalpur.
Orchard owners and fruit suppliers in Bhagalpur and Banka are clearly not amused with the situation.
“We expected to earn more money this year owing to a good harvest. But overproduction and fast ripening of the fruit due to severe heatwave has led to a glut and drastic drop in mango prices. It has, in turn, left us disappointed,” mango grower Hardeo Singh lamented.
Prakash Mandal, another mango grower, said more than 50 per cent of mangoes had been plucked and sold so far in the region.
“There is a possibility of more glut, which may lead to further drop in prices in the coming days,” he said.
On the other hand, mango lovers like Mubarak Ansari of Bhagalpur district and Saryu Mandal of neighbouring Banka district were smiling while discussing the mango prices.
They said that the best quality mango varsities such as Malda, Jardalu, Gulabkhas and Biju were selling at unbelievably cheaper prices in rural areas.
“I am purchasing mangoes at Rs5 (USD 0.08) to Rs8 (0.12) per kilo this season, thanks to a bumper crop,” Ansari said. He works as a labourer in Delhi but is currently visiting his native village.
“In early June, I was in Delhi where mangoes were selling for Rs80 (USD 1.25) to Rs100 (USD 1.56) per kg. The fruit is simply beyond our reach there,” he said.
Even in Patna, mangoes are selling for Rs40 (USD 0.62) to Rs50 (0.78) a kilo.
A father of five, Ansari said the low prices enabled him to ensure that his family had its fill of the ‘king of fruit’.
Mandal, a landless farmer earning his livelihood as a daily wage labourer in and outside Bihar — said that mangoes were selling cheaper like never before.
“We have simply replaced vegetables with mangoes in our meals along with rice and bread. It is simple economics: Two kilos of mangoes cost between Rs10 (USD 0.16) and Rs12 (USD 0.19) in Shahabganj block in Banka,” he said.
Assocham, an industry body, which conducted a survey in May said that mangoes were selling at Rs100 (USD 1.56) per kilo in retail markets. Premium variety Alphonso was costing Rs200 (USD 3.12) to Rs400 (USD 6.24)per dozen, since unseasonal rains had led to fruit crop losses up to 50 per cent in some states.
More than half of the lower middle class population in India is forced to skip or squeeze its monthly budget to ensure fresh fruit in diet owing to rising prices of seasonal fruit, the survey said.
Whatever the survey may say, residents of Bhagalpur and Banka districts of Bihar are not complaining. At least, not this summer season!
Source: Gulf News