In late March and early April, as the sun grows in intensity, workers head to plantations dotting Ratnagiri and Dapoli in western Maharashtra to pluck the Alphonso. A discerning mango farmer, however, will tell you that the fruit should ideally be plucked in May — when it ripens with pronounced golden curves that look like plump cheeks. But such is the commercial craze for the beloved Hapus that fruit-laden trees in March are often too good an opportunity to pass up. It is also the reason why the lockdown might now decimate the fortunes of thousands of farmers this year.
The Indian mango needs our attention now
“Many in Ratnagiri are dependent on the Agricultural Produce Market Committee [APMC] market in Vashi, which is shut now,” explains mango farmer Noshirwan Mistry, who owns one of the few fully-organic farms in the Dapoli region. “The farmers are struggling to transport their produce to Mumbai, but once there, with the APMC [and many city markets] shut, there is nowhere for the fruit to go.” Retails outfits like Big Basket also depend on the APMC because it is too risky for them to buy from one farmer.
For farmers like Mistry, who supply directly to the customer, everything depends on how quickly the lockdown is lifted. “My plucking season usually starts in mid-May. As soon as the lockdown is lifted, I can get to work and it could still be a good year if the markets pick up by late May. The rains are also supposed to come a little late this year, so that might be good for us. But the longer this situation continues it is far more uncertain.”
Straight from the mango orchard | Like a pregnant belly, like a plump cheek
Meanwhile, with markets shut, there are only two solutions: exporting the fruit or selling it as pulp to hotels and other businesses. Mistry says that though he has heard a line of export has been opened to Dubai and Saudi Arabia, amongst others, there is still too much fruit. As for pulping, the sub-industry has been hit by a supply problem. “I assumed that the farmers who are sitting on produce would have had their fruits pulped by now, but there isn’t enough stock of tin cans to store it. These usually come in between February and March, but the supply didn’t arrive in time,” he says, explaining that individual farmers and a handful of small businesses run pulping units. He and the farmers in his network are discussing other ways to store mango pulp — in aseptic packaging or plastic and beer bottles.
