Navi Mumbai: Summers and mangoes go hand-in-hand. Whether you like it pulpy, bite-sized chunks, or with chaat masala, the season has ample in store for you to satiate your mango cravings. This year, the APMC market in Vashi has received the highest number of Alphonso mangoes in the last four years.
Every day, the market receives around 80,000 boxes. Last year, the number was 60,000 boxes per day. Sanjay Pansare, director of the fruits market at APMC, shared, “More than 80,000 boxes of Alphonso mangoes are reaching the market this year, highest in the last three to four years. Every box has around four to nine dozen mangoes. Currently, the rate per dozen is ₹150 to ₹500 in the wholesale market depending on the size of the mango. Meanwhile, last year, the rate was ₹300 to ₹700 per dozen at this time.”
The mangoes are arriving from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Raigad districts of Maharashtra to the APMC market. The season from the south is yet to start. The Alphonso mangoes from Karnataka and Kerala will land here mostly after May 15.
Meanwhile, the farmers say that this year, the flowering of the mangoes everywhere happened at the same time and hence the mango produce seems to be more. “The mango season got delayed after an unseasonal shower at the end of November last year. In November, the flowering of the mangoes had started but it got destroyed in the rain. Hence, later, the flowering happened simultaneously in January at all places. The mangoes that should have come earlier, are coming now due to delayed flowering. So, even as the per day number of mangoes reaching the market is more, the produce at each place is less comparatively,” informed Sachin Lanjekar, a mango farmer from Ratnagiri.
Due to the increase in the daily supply, Pansare claims that the customers for the mangoes have also reduced. “There are ample mangoes everywhere right now and hence the rate has also decreased and so has the number of customers. Quality-wise, this year’s mangoes are much better than last year as this year after January, the climate was very favourable for the mangoes,” Pansare added.