Mango producers worried amid demand fall

Kolhapur: Mango growers in the region have expressed concerns about the sale of the fruit as they are facing severe worker and transport issues in view of the lockdown. They said that they usually send mangoes from Konkan to various markets in Kolhapur, Pune and Mumbai.
Instead of sending mangoes to the market committees in bulk, they are now searching for small traders in these districts and supplying mangoes as per requirement.With barely one-and-a-half months left in their hand until the season ends, they are worried that they would not be able to sell mangoes at all this season.
Anand Desai, a mango producer from Ratnagiri district said, “People from Pune, Mumbai, Baramati and other parts of Maharashtra contact us and place orders directly. Accordingly, we contact the transporters to supply the mangoes but most of the time, they are reluctant to move to these cities due to Covid-19 outbreak. Eeven if some are ready, they put conditions such as unloading all the material at one spot and not supplying mangoes in various societies as per requirement. They have also started charging us double rates due to scarcity of workers.”
“We sell our almost all the stock of mangoes every year in March and April. But with hardly 15 days left, we are worried about how we will cover up for the losses. The rainy season is likely to start from June 8 and we are left with only month of May to clear the stock. Till date, all mango producers are able to supply only 25% of their total production in the market,” he said.
Nandkumar Walanju, a city-based mango trader said, “Kolhapur market gets mangoes from Konkan region and some parts of Karnataka. Due to lockdown, very few vehicles are available for transport of mangoes and we are not able to receive the mangoes from the producers to sell them in the market. When our retailers try to sell the mangoes arrived from Konkan region, the buyers are reluctant to buy fearing Covid-19 threat.”