Now, Maharashtra and Karnataka lock horns over mangoes

The king of mangoes – Alphonso – is at the centre of a struggle concerning Maharashtra and Karnataka. Right after acquiring problems from mango growers in Maharashtra that Alphonso-like make from the bordering Point out are ingesting into their margins, Maharashtra’s Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse has stepped into the fray.

He said stringent lawful action would be taken from those included in promoting ‘fake’ Alphonsos in the market place.

The Minister has asked Agriculture Create Market place Committees (APMC) markets to hold a watch on traders passing off other varieties of mangoes as Alphonso. Vaibhav Naik, MLA from the Konkan area just lately approached the Agriculture Minister with a complaint that Maharashtra’s Alphonso growers have been suffering major losses for the reason that of “fake” Alphonsos from the neighbouring Point out.

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Unique GI tag

Alphonso mangoes from Konkan have a GI (geographical indications) tag for their one of a kind style, aroma and color. Violation of GI of Merchandise (Registration and Safety) Act, 1999, appeals to a jail expression of six months and ₹50,000 in penalty.

Even as some scientists believe that the Portuguese introduced Alphonso to Konkan, researchers and farmers in the area assert that it is a nearby products and the Portuguese took it to the world market place.

The king of mangoes is a single of the major resources of profits for the Konkan farmers. Devesh Deodhar, a trader, who received Alphonsos to sell in the Pune market place, said he experimented with to retail them for ₹1,two hundred (small size) and ₹1,500 ( big size) per dozen. “But some buyers said that they have been acquiring it at ₹500 per dozen. Any grower of Alphonso simply cannot afford to pay for to sell the fruit at this rate. Of course, there are other varieties of mangoes which are getting marketed as Alphonso,” he details out.

Versions developed

India is household to about one,000 varieties of mango. Nonetheless, only a handful of varieties are commercially cultivated throughout India. Maharashtra farmers primarily increase Alphonso, Kesar and Pairi whilst Karnataka farmers increase Alphonso, Totapuri, Banganapalli, Pairi, Neelum and Mulgoa.

In accordance to APEDA, the major mango-rising States are Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Uttar Pradesh ranks very first in mango output with a share of 23.47 per cent and the highest efficiency.