BERHAMPUR: Usually by May, mangoes flood the wholesale market at Neelakantheswar here, considered the largest market of king of fruits in Southern Odisha. But now most of the stall owners at the seasonal market are spending leisure time due to delay in arrival of mangoes from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.Mangoes started arriving in the city a fortnight back. While artificial ripening has made the fruit tasteless, skyrocketing prices of mangoes due to short supply have deprived the common man of relishing the juicy fruits.
Manmohan Rout, president of the wholesale market, said they usually receive 500 tonne of mangoes per day, but the quantity has reduced to around 160 tonne per day this year. The favourite varieties are Sundari, Baiganapalli, Cherukurasam and Akhurasa. The quality of mango is not like previous years as most of the fruits were plucked much before it ripened. This apart, change of climate has also taken a toll on mango production, he added.
At present, Akhurasa costs between `37 and `43 per kg in wholesale market, Sundari is priced between `28 and `35, Baiganapalli `32 to `39 while Kalambi variety is sold at `25 to `32 per kg. Paparau variety is sold at `35 to `42 per kg and local variety costs between `20 and `30 per kg. Retailers are, however, selling it at higher rates.
Rout said hardly a few days are left for Savitri Brata and the most sought-after seasonal fruit is yet to arrive in huge quantity in the city markets. Earlier, mangoes used to come to Berhampur markets by the end of March. But this year, the fruit started reaching the markets in the first week of April and will continue till June, he said.
The mango market here, with a turnover of more than `50 lakh, also supplies the fruit to West Bengal and other districts of the State. The market imports mango mainly from Vizianagaram, Vijayawada and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and Mulakgal, Kolar and Srinivaspur in Karnataka besides getting it locally. Jaya Sahu, a mango trader, said this year there was shortfall in local production due to climatic change.