Rains damage banana and mango crops in north Andhra Pradesh

VISAKHAPATNAM: The unseasonal rains for the past few days have affected the horticulture crops in parts of the north coastal AP. The untimely rains have affected the mango and banana farmers in Vizianagaram region, which is the home for the best mango varieties_ Banginapalli, Suvarnarekha and Panukulu in the county.

The area under Mango cultivation in Vizianagaram region is over 35,000 hectares. Most of the mango growers in the region prefer to grow Banginapalli variety for its demand in Odisha, parts of North India and abroad. Banginapalli variety mango is considered a table variety fruit.

Thousands of acres of mango, banana plantation and maize were damaged by the recent untimely rains in north coastal AP.

The untimely rains will lead to drop in mango yield in Vizianagaram region this year and will also affect banana and maize farmers, said district horticulture officer, AVSV Jamadagni.

Mangoes which are considered the king of fruits may turn expensive if the rains continue for some more days in the region. The IMD predicted thundershowers at isolated places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh till March 26. The farmers are expecting at least Rs60,000 per tonne of Banginapalli variety in the current mango season. The price of the mango depends on the final production of the fruit.