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Mangoes, mangoes everywhere!

Inhale, discover and dig in at the Mango Show. RENUKA VIJAY KUMAR explores

MANGO MANIA Children take stock of the varieties at the festival PHOTO: SATISH.H

If the seductive and almost overpowering smell of the mangoes doesn't grab your attention, the hundreds and hundreds of ripe yellow-orange fruit on display definitely will.

Welcome to the Mango Show of the year at the Public Gardens, where mangoes red, green, yellow and even orange, share shelf space with well-known varieties like Himayat, Benishaan, Totapuri, Alphonso, Dusheri and Kesari and a few lesser known ones like Sodar, Peddha Sona Rasam and Bangar Goa.

Some of the fruits you will see here are not available at the local rythu bazaar or fruit vendors — they are grown on a small scale or for the international market. Fruits like the Sodar weigh two to four kilos per fruit while hybrid varieties of the Rasalu and cut-type mangoes are large, juicy and bright skinned.

The outdoor display consists of about 15-10 stalls — most of them owned by private oraganisations, while the display inside the Jubilee Hall houses the prize-winning mangoes in all categories.

There are 200-odd varieties of mangoes on display at the mango show and the sights and smell had even older people deeply inhaling the mango-flavoured air!

Mango products in different categories were in competition too. There were categories for mango sweets, mango pickles, mango juices, squash and pulp and even one for homemade mango products like mango poha and mango dal that was displayed with an `all mango menu' for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

An interesting feature was the category of mango packing where entries were adjudged on the packing of mangoes for sale in the local, domestic and international market. Mango saplings were in high demand as people asked for the `large fruit' bearing saplings.

Even though the show is all about mangoes, other things associated with mangoes were there as well. Empty plastic tubs and crates to fill with the fruit and take home were there, as were other products like Totapuri pulp, mango jelly and irrigation pumps. The mangoes on sale are mostly the export variety, so virtually the cream of the crop is on display.

Organically grown Dusheris, succulent looking Benishaans neatly packed in boxes, Alphonsoes and Langdas had the most takers. The APEDA (Andhra Pradesh Exports Development Authority) has played an active role in promoting mango farmers by helping them take their produce to other countries.

If mangoes do it for you and you can't wait to sink you teeth into the fruit, then make sure you catch the last day of the mango show today.

But first, buy a large empty tub before you begin exploring the show.

Highlights of the show

* Premium quality mangoes from across the state

* Mango products like pickles, dals and jelly

* A mushroom stall

* A dehydrated food stall

* Large sized Sodar mangoes

* Organic mangoes from Kapisthalam Farms

What Mango Show, 2006

Where Jubilee Hall, Public Gardens

When Till June 3

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