HYDERABAD: The king of fruits, mango, is spreading cheer among nearly 2,500 women, belonging to the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP). After finding success with paddy, these women have ventured for the first time into procuring and selling mangoes. And, what a year it has been for them so far.
They are selling the Benishan variety of mangoes, safely ripened by women of self-help groups. These fruits will be sold online on Big Basket from Saturday.
The women’s groups have tied up with farmers of Nagarkurnool, Mahbubnagar, Mancherial and Jagtial district. They trained the farmers on desapping of mangoes and to maintain their quality. Later, with the help of the State marketing department, they entered into an agreement with retailer such as Ratnadeep, 24 Mantra, Big Basket and with outlets of Yellows and Greens. “They have been selling mangoes for around 10 days. Till Friday, they sold around 55 tonnes of the fruit,” said SERP COO N Rajitha.
“The women have been engaged in paddy procurement for several years now. But, this is the first time that they ventured into the business of perishable goods and succeeded,” Rajitha said. The women groups ripen the mangoes with ethylene at a cold storage in Medchal, only using safe methods.
“The farmers in the four district are getting a good price. For instance, at Gaddiannaram market, they get only `34 per kg. These women’s groups are paying `38 at the farm-level itself. The farm producer organisations (FPO) are getting `4 profit to meet their expenses,” said Rajitha.
According to COO, the women are getting an income of `35,000 per tonne for normal mangoes and `45,000 per tonne for organic mangoes. “The response from the supermarkets is very good; orders are placed everyday. The women are supplying around 6 tonnes to these malls on a daily basis. Specially designed gift mango boxes will be available for sale on Big Basket from Saturday. We have two more weeks to sell mangoes this season,” she said.