Navi Mumbai
With favourable weather conditions in 2022 winter, the Alphonso mangoes supply into Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), Vashi has increased three-fold compared to March 2022 with the fruit from Devgad, Ratnagiri and Raigad in Konkan belt flooding the market, say APMC traders.
The Alphonso supply was hit in March 2022 due to unseasonal rainfall in November 2021. However, pleasant climate in November and December 2022 when the flowering of the mango occurs has led to abundant supply of the Alphonso, also called the king of mangoes by some.
“The flowers that bloomed in the month of November 2022, are showing results now. But it is expected that there will be lesser arrivals in the month of April. Due to less supply, the prices might go up as well in April,” said Sachin Lanjekar, a farmer from Ratnagiri who supplies his produces to APMC Market, Vashi, said.
In March 2022, around 7,000 boxes of Alphonso mangoes reached the market daily. “This year, it is close to 22,000 boxes reaching us daily. Each boxes contain four to eight dozen mangoes depending on the size of the fruit,” Sanjay Pansare, director of the fruit market told HT.
The traders also feel that if the summer temperatures continue to soar in March, the supply will be directly affected in the month of May as well. “The mango buds on trees might get affected due to the rising heat, eventually affecting the produce and the supply in the month of May,” Pansare added. Each box costs around ₹2000 to ₹5000 depending on the size of the mango.
“Last year, the starting price for mangoes was ₹4,000. Even if the produce is likely to reduce next month, we believe that the prices will not go up because the sales may also increase and expand by next month,” said Mahesh Gawde, a mango trader from the market said.