The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : Mango prices to hit the sky this season

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 25, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Mango prices to hit the sky this season

By G. Ravikiran

VIJAYAWADA, MARCH 24. A bite at Banginapalli, a sweet, popular mango variety, may taste bitter this coming season. An alarming fall in production is projected for 2005 with the Horticulture Department officials saying that this popular mango variety is set to record the lowest yield over the past several years.

The reduced productivity is expected to make the availability of Banginapalli mango scarce in the market and consequently, its prices at customer point are sure to hit the sky.

Poor yield

According to officials, the average yield of Banginapalli crop is likely to be a meagre 1.5 to two tonnes per hectare this year, that is 2005. This is far less when compared to per-hectare yields reported in earlier years - three to 3.5 tonnes in 2004 and two to three tonnes in 2003.

"The situation is really alarming this year. The yield will be hardly two tonnes per hectare," says R. Vidyabhushan, the Deputy Director, Agri-Export Zone (mango), Horticulture Department, Krishna district.

Farmers' hopes dashed

The reasons for this drastic fall are manifold - extended winter, climatic changes under the impact of December-tsunami, variations in day-night temperatures, pest attack and deflowering. What promised to be a bumper crop in January dashed the farmers' hopes subsequently and different factors came into play causing large-scale deflowering towards February-end, says Mr. Vidyabhushan.

Going by this, the total production of Banginapalli will be around 33,000 tonnes this year, as against 84,000 tonnes in 2004 and 65,000 tonnes in 2003. The Banginapalli variety is grown in 26,000 hectares, which comprises 40 per cent of the total 65,000 hectares presently under different varieties of mango cultivation in Krishna district. The remaining 60 per cent area covers `rasalu' (juicy fruit) and other varieties, including Totapuri variety, which is largely used in processing industry and mostly exported to Delhi, Ahmedabad and other parts of North India.

The Secretary of Vijayawada Agricultural Market Committee, K. Venkateswarlu, says that mango farmers are in a depressed mood this year also in view of repeated crop failure. "Last year, the farmers received a blow due to drought.

Adverse climatic conditions have dashed their hopes this year also. The tsunami has brought about climatic changes that affected crop yields," he adds.

A very peculiar situation prevailed in the beginning of the year with night temperatures reported to be cooler than usual and day temperatures hotter than normal. "These variations in day-night temperatures have affected crop the most and caused a lot of deflowering," say the officials.

The situation with regard to Totapuri and `rasalu' varieties is also grim with the yield this year expected to be hardly 30 to 35 per cent as against 40 to 50 per cent last year, that is 2004.

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