Junagadh District News – Kesar Mango Keri Talala

“Kesar Mango may be out of bound for ‘aam’ aadmi”.

Global warming has claimed its latest victim-mangoes in Junagadh district as well as the whole of Saurashtra region, taking the king of fruit out of reach of the general populace.

On Tuesday, as the auction of Junagadh's famous Kesar mangoes began in the Talala Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard, it was declared that the mango crop produce had dropped by a major 40 percent. However, the price of mangoes saw no such fall as they rose inversely proportional to the mango yield this year.

Talala APMC yard chairman Harsukh Jarsaniya said the auction of mangoes officially began from today and the price of a 10 kg box of mango now ranges from Rs 300 to Rs 600.

"Last year, a total of nine lakh mango boxes had been sold in the Talala yard. However, this year the astronomical prices might ensure that they do not even touch the three-lakh mark," he said.

Kesar Keri Mangoes Junagadh Districts Gujarat India

Early Entry of rains in Junagadh(Saurastra), Make Mangoes more affordable :-

Early monsoon in the state might have brought respite from the scorching heat but it has come as bad news for mango farmers in Saurashtra.

Farmers say they have suffered a double whammy —the longest cold wave conditions in the state coupled with the early rains which affected the Kesar mango crop especially in Saurashtra.

The mango yield fell by over 40 per cent in Saurashtra region. Secretary of the biggest mango marketing yard, Agriculture Produce Market, Talala, HH Jarsania says: "There are hardly any buyers. The rate for a 10 kg carton is usually around Rs 150-160 per kg, but at present the same costs around Rs 60-70," says Jarsania.

In Saurashtra, over 20 per cent of Mangoes are yet to ripen in places like Vanthali.

Meanwhile, mango lovers in Gujarat who had to restrain their mango appetite that sold at Rs 60-70 per kg in May might get a chance to feast on the king of fruits in the last two weeks of the season.

Wholesale dealers and retailers of mangoes say that certain communities, sizeable in number, don’t eat mangoes after the first rains which will cut the demand by 20 per cent. "Mangoes will become affordable once the rains set in," says Magan Motibhai, a fruit retailer at Jamalpur who was selling Kesar mangoes at Rs 40 per kg. "Prices will come down once rains come but the quality and taste may suffer," says Lachhman Rohra, chairman of the Wholesale Fruit Market Association.

Bachubhai Ahir, a farmer from Talala says, "Once the rains begin the crop is totally destroyed and we have to simply dump the crop into the sea." According to Bachubhai about 30 per cent of the crop is still in the fields. Mohan Patel, a resident of Vanthali and a prominent mango farmer says, "In Talala and Junagadh the farmers pluck mango early but in Vanthali the plucking is about to begin and with early rains over 70 per cent of the crop is destroyed. The farmers are incurring huge losses."

PK Kapadia, associate research scientist, Mahuva says, "Due to late flowering this year in several areas, the mangoes are still not ripe and this early rain would definitely affect the crop. Nearly 30 per cent of the crop is due to late flowering," he said.