HEAPS OF MANGOES: This mango season may not be bountiful. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: It is considered by many as the "King of Fruits," but people may be in for some disappointment this summer. The mango crop in the State this year is likely to be barely one-fourth of last year when the region had a bumper crop.

While last year's mango crop in the State was a little over eight lakh tonnes, the crop forecast this year is for two lakh tonnes or a bit less. This will impact the wholesale and retail markets in Bangalore.

This will mean fewer arrivals from the districts to the city's markets and prices can be expected to be considerably higher. According to Horticulture Department sources, a meagre crop after a bumper season the previous year is common. But this time there were other factors like unseasonal rain early in the flowering period, which may have affected the crop.

"Too much moisture in the air during the mango flowering season, February through March, affects the growth of fruits. This was the case this year in almost all the mango growing regions in the State," a Horticulture Department officer explained. There was the phenomenon of what horticulturists call "irregular flowering" which meant fewer fruits actually grew on the trees. Crops are reported to have been affected in all the major mango-growing districts such as Kolar, Belgaum, Dharwad, Chikmagalur, Hassan and Haveri. There are some mango groves in Bangalore district too but their output is not large enough to make an impact on market conditions.

Last summer, prices of Alphonso mangoes came down to around Rs. 30 a kg while other varieties such as Raspuri and Totapuri sold for about Rs. 20 a kg. Alphonso mangoes are expected to cost Rs. 50 or more this summer and the other varieties between Rs. 30 and Rs. 40 a kg.

Arrival of mangoes from the neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will depend on the crop position there.

While about 50,000 tonnes of mangoes come here from other regions, including Maharashtra, a much larger quantity is sent to north India, especially to Delhi which is a major market where prices do not discourage customers.

Those in the wholesale markets here are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that growers will not demand very high prices.

"If by the time the fruits reach the retail markets, the prices go beyond Rs. 50 a kg, consumers may hesitate to buy the fruit in large quantities. On our part we have to pay for the transportation as well for mangoes coming from the northern districts.

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