04 December,2010 07:12 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth
Coming summer, city will see shortage of the fruit, accompanied by a rise in prices, thanks to the unusual weather upsetting crop health in the state
Mango lovers, you may have to shell out more for a good bite into the juicy fruit next summer. And you have the awry weather to thank.
Following the rains in November, farmers in the state say they are sure to lose their produce to pests caused by the erratic weather.
Farmers predict a 20 per cent shortage of mangoes this summer
Farmers predict a 20 per cent shortage of mangoes in the market this summer, which, they warn, will be accompanied by a rise in the prices.
According to horticultural experts, last month's rains have drastically affected the king of fruits in the state, one of the largest producers of mangoes in the country.
The rains came as a double blow, after extreme weather had already affected the crop in October, when some varieties were in their flowering stage.
Experts say if the cloudy weather draws out any further, the crop may fall prey to powdery mildew, a kind of fungal disease, and other bacterial diseases.
"Crop that should have already flowered by now has not yet flowered which has directly affected the mango production.
We expect the produce to dip by 20 per cent," said Kirti Singh Rana, a mango producer from Satpura district who owns 2,300 mango trees on 60 acres of land.
While fruiting has started with some varieties, others are still in flowering stage. Both stages of growth are susceptible to the erratic weather.
"There is lot of humidity, which makes it conducive for pests to assault the crop. This means farmers like us will have to spend more on pesticides to save the crops," he said.
Price to rise
Another farmer from Ratnagiri who did not wish to be named grumbled that the prices of mangoes would have to face the impact of erratic rainfall.
"Happus, a popular variety of mango usually found in February will suffer a setback due to rains. Its price will increase as farmers will have to spend a lot on saving the crop from pestilence," he said.
Rana predicted a shortage of mangoes this season if farmers are unable to control the pestilence.
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He said, "If the temperature dips, no matter what we do, the quality of the mangoes will suffer in the coming summer, and there is a good chance of a shortage of quality mangoes."
Last summer due to temperature rising beyond 40 degrees Celsius, mango plants had got scorched.
According to reports from Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), the wholesale grain and vegetable market for the city, only 50 per cent of the mangoes had arrived in the market last year.
Sanjay Pansare, joint president of Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Association of the APMC said, "Mangoes will arrive late this year because of the unseasonable rains.
Usually, mangoes arrive in the market by the first week of February but unseasonable rains have disturbedu00a0 the harvesting process. I hope the price doesn't shoot up. We are hoping for some miracle now," he said.
Voices
Already prices of onion, garlic, grapes, pomegranate and what not have shot up because of the rains. And now we have to face a price rise for mangoes this summer. This is very unfortunate. I hope the quality is maintainedu00a0
Manu Kapoor, Chembur housewife
We don't mind buying expensive mangoes but the quality should be maintained. Only,u00a0 we might have to reduce the quantity of mangoes that we used to buy
Rajni Shah, Malad resident
