The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The golden fruit waits to be picked up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 07, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The golden fruit waits to be picked up

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Trucks bearing hundreds of mangoes hurtle in and out of the APMC mango mandi at Jakkur. But at 1 p.m., not many customers are seen buying the fruits. Sellers and farmers huddle in small groups, waiting.

"Mango mandi used to be one of the largest markets in Asia. But after shifting here from the Palace Grounds, the market is no longer what it used to be," says Sayed Mehboob, a trader of 20 years.

He reasons that the market has dispersed to smaller centres within and outside the city because the mandi is far from the centre of the city. "The 1.5 per cent cess levied on us by the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee has also affected business at the mandi," he says.

Nearly a week after the "King of Fruits" arrived in the city, a month late, businessmen at the mandi are hopeful that sales would pick up soon.

"We expect the business to pick up in about 10 days' time. That is when people from out of State will come to buy the fruits in large numbers," says Ganesh A., who disdainfully speaks of those from within the city who pick up "only one truckload of mangoes".

A group of traders that The Hindu tried to speak to were suspicious of the motives. Even when they were promised that the reporter was not from any supermarket or grocery chain, they were unwilling to divulge details on what places they receive their goods from. They only said that the fruits came from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

"What these big people (the ones from supermarkets) do is find out from us exactly which place we get our goods from and then go there and strike a deal directly with the farmers," says one trader. A less suspicious Kalimulla Hassan Khan said that the mangoes initially come from Ramanagaram, Chennapatna, Tumkur, Hoskote and then shift towards neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The lack of facilities at this far away yard was also a cause of complaint for the traders. The entrance is blocked as some drain work is under way which means those wanting to enter the yard have to travel on circuitous mud roads. "There are no toilets, no drinking water facilities here," says Mr. Khan.

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