Untimely rains set to spike mango prices

Hyderabad: Though residents in the city heaved a sigh of relief from scorching summer heat due to intermittent rainfall, its bad news for the mango lovers. With untimely rains and pest attacks, the production of the 'King of Indian Fruit' was below the expectations. This in turn is likely to make buying mangoes a costly affair with the prices being higher due to low supply of the fruit. Official estimates said that the yellow fruit produce will be around 20 to 30 percent less when compared to last year.

According to the Horticulture department, the reason behind the low production is that during the flowering stage of the mango crop in the month of November, crops got damaged by unseasonal rains and pest attacks (black thrips) have resulted in a fall in the crop yield and another reason is that during fruiting process many fruits got damaged due to sudden rains and hailstorms and that has subsequently lead in soaring in prices.

"Mangoes arrived in the market a little early compared to last year, but quantity remains very low and the price continues to soar. The price of mangoes in the city as of now are a bit high and might drop as the days pass on. Normal mango is currently being sold at Rs 180 per kg, whereas last year it was Rs 100. Meanwhile, other varieties of mangoes that include The Himayat mangoes are being sold at Rs 250 per kg while Benishan-Banganapalle is available for Rs 180 per kg/and Kesar is being sold for Rs 250 per kg," said a dealer in Gudimalkapur market.

Even the retail vendors have to pay more money to purchase mangoes from city markets. Shamsher Khan, who has a shop in Nampally, said, "there is a low supply and great demand for the fruit in the market. From the wholesale market we are buying at high prices which are forcing us to increase the price and pricing is starting from Rs 200, as we also have to bear transportation charges." Senior official of the Gudimalkapur said, "That mango arrivals at the Koheda market in Hayathnagar and Batasingaram, Gudimalkapur and Monda Market, Secunderabad, have come down by 20to 30 percent compared to last year.

The State markets receive mangoes from various districts of Telangana that include RangaReddy, Suryapet, Mahabubnagar and Khammam, and various districts from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Wholesale mango dealers in the city's major fruit markets have raised concern and dissatisfaction over the low production of mango this year due to unseasonal rains and pest attacks.