Cyclonic fall: Gujarat’s iconic Kesar mango cheaper than potato

“Kudrat Ruthi Gai” (the nature is offended), is the lament of growers of the common Kesar mango variety of Gir Somnath and Junagadh districts of Gujarat, just after Cyclone Tauktae devastated the region previous week.

In the previous number of times, the Talala sector lawn — the key stage for the Kesar mango auctions — in Gir Somnath district obtained nearly one.five lakh containers (every of ten kg) of the mango variety with selling prices quoted as reduced as ₹40 for every box.

That’s just ₹4 for every kg. The cost fell even down below the wholesale potato cost of ₹60 for every ten kg (₹6 for every kg).

Fruit fall

“This is the similar variety of mango that was advertising in the variety of ₹225-800 for every box just a week in the past,” rues HH Jarsaniya, Secretary, Talala APMC. He states only five-eight for every cent of the in general Kesar mango crop appears intact.

Cyclone Tauktae designed the landfall on Might 17 together the coastline of Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh and Gir Somnath districts with wind speeds of 160-165 kmph gusting up to a hundred ninety kmph. This led to the mangoes falling from the trees.

However, the fallen fruits — thought of destroyed due to mud caking and dampness — was generally bought by lousy communities from nearby districts. Only about 23,000 containers are left. “No food items processor or retail trader has come to acquire these destroyed fruits. That’s why the selling prices fell so sharply,” stated Jarsaniya.

Kesar mango is the second-most exported mango variety just after Alphonso.

However, exports are down due to the pandemic and logistics constraints throughout nations. Grown predominantly in the foothills of Girnar mountain in Saurashtra, the iconic Gir Kesar mango, acknowledged for its dazzling orange colour and distinctive aroma, was supplied a Geographical Indication (GI) in 2011.

Soured season

This yr the season started on Might four with skinny arrivals of about five,600 containers a working day as against eight,000-nine,000 containers previous yr.

The season lasts 40-forty five times till mid-June. But this yr the season has finished abruptly due to the cyclone.

According to the Talala APMC knowledge, previous yr nearly 7 lakh containers were traded creating a small business of ₹26 crore, whilst this yr only 3.21 lakh containers arrived and small business had dropped to ₹7 crore — nearly a fourth of previous year’s.