King of fruits still remains elusive in Hyderabad

​Hyderabad: Summer is already here yet teeming fruit markets and busy waysides are still devoid of those mouthwatering drupes, thanks to vagaries of nature. Come February, mangoes flood Hyderabad markets and then onto pavements and colony roads, but this time around things look different. 

The ‘king of fruits’ seem to be a rarity as even the temperature touching almost 40O Celsius in mid-March in the State capital. 

Unseasonal rains and inclement weather seem to have showed their effect on mango production this season. This might lead not only to scarcity of mangoes but also they are most likely to pricier. Rains have already damaged mango crops in many areas of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reducing volume of mango harvest considerably. Apparently, city markets are yet to receive enough mangoes, thus making the yellow delicacies hankered ones.  

The arrival of mangoes usually begins by the month of February, but this year the city has not received enough quantity of mangoes due to which the prices have gone up and has been sold at Rs 250 per kg in retail markets and Rs 50 to Rs 80 per kg in wholesale markets. 

Saleem, a wholesaler in Kothapet Fruit Market said when compared to last year the arrivals of mangoes had gone down by 50 per cent till now and one of the reasons for the less production was bad weather which spoiled the crops. He said in the wholesale market, mangoes were sold between Rs 50 to Rs 80 per kg.

Speaking to The Hans India, Anil Babu, Grade-II Secretary at Kothapet Fruit Market, said every year by mid-February they started getting mangoes, but this year due to less crops they had not yet received good amounts of mangoes till date. He added that on Thursday the fruit market had received around 27 tons of mangoes which was equal to four lorries. 

Chairman of Kothapet Fruit Market Puttam Purushottam said, “The vendors in the fruit market received a business of Rs 3.30 crore last year but this time it has completely gone down. We hope that in the month of April we will get a good quantity of mangoes, if not, the price of the mangoes will remain high.” 

A hawker in Monda Market said this year the arrival of mangoes was less when compared to the previous year. He said in the retail market, mangoes were being sold for Rs 200 and Rs 250.