MUMBAI: When the nationwide lockdown was imposed, mango farmer Asif Shahbazker was staring at huge losses. But technology and an enterprising agriculture officer came to his rescue.
The Bandra resident who owns the 200-acre Ranse Farm in Uran in the Konkan region was able to seal orders for 20,000 Alphonso mangoes in a month through WhatsApp. Asif said they are not only getting a fair profit but also contributing a portion of it to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to fight COVID-19.
“When the mango season started at the end of March, the government declared a lockdown across the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We were struggling to sell such a large quantum of mangoes during the lockdown. Exports were also banned -- 40 per cent of our mangoes are exported. But our local agriculture officer Kranti Chaudhari was a ray of hope. She helped us connect with various high-end residential cooperative housing societies,” said the farmer.
He said they have shared their WhatsApp number with various housing societies. “Once they place the order, we deliver it to their doorsteps. One box containing four dozen mangoes costs Rs 1500. Last year, we sold the same boxes for Rs 700 to wholesaler traders at the agriculture produce market (APMC) in Vashi and they were again sold at Rs 2000 to Rs 2500 to consumers. This year, we removed all middlemen and directly connected to the end-users through social media. Consumers are getting mango boxes at Rs 1500 against Rs 2000 from traders while we are getting Rs 1500 against Rs 700 from traders. This is a win-win situation for both of us,” he said, adding that they will use the same technology next year to sell the mangoes.
Asif said they are facing a labour crunch this season. “We used to engage at least 100 labourers to produce mangoes, but this year we have to manage with 15 only. Local workers cannot join because their houses are quarantined and police did not allow them to go out. We follow all social distancing practice while selling the mangoes. Masks, sanitizers and gloves are used by our workers while dispatching mangoes to housing societies,” he added.
Kranti said after the lockdown was imposed, residents of her housing society complained about the shortage of vegetables and fruits which led her to connect the farmers to city consumers.
“We helped the farmers sell their produce at various residential colonies. Farmers and consumers both are happy with this chain. We have been doing this at a very small scale. We want to develop it on a larger scale so that the farmers will not be exploited by middlemen and traders while consumers will also not be deprived,” she said.