VIZIANAGARAM: Bheemili, a tiny village in Lakkavarapukota mandal in Vizianagaram district, is popular for its mango jelly, known as Mamidi Tandra. The mango jelly makers in the region do not use artificial flavours. So, there is a huge demand for Bheemili mango jelly in neighbouring Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.Over 4,000 people of Bheemali, Alamanda, L Kota, Bhimasingi and few other villages in Vizianagaram district engaged in preparing the lip-smacking jelly in the mango season — from April to June.
The Covid-19 pandemic hit the mango jelly production in 2020 and 2021. With the spread of the virus to rural pockets of the State, there was a shortage of labourers in the last two years, resulting in a decrease in mango jelly production. They have high hopes for this mango season as the Covid situation eases. However, less mango production in the district forced them to rely on mangoes from other parts of the State, which increased production cost 2-3 times. With this, mango jelly production in the district declined by over 80 percent this season.
The jelly makers used to purchase quality mangoes such as Collector, Kolam Gova and Totapuri varieties from various parts of the district. They would mix the mango pulp with sugar on bamboo mats until the jelly reaches a three-inch thickness. Later, they will dry it for at least four weeks. They used to produce at least 15,000 to 20,000 mats (each mat consists of 60 to 70 kg jelly), that is, over a million kilos of mango jelly per season.
However, low mango production in the district shattered their hopes. The production of the mango crop fell by 30 per cent in the district this year reportedly due to change in climatic conditions forcing them to buy mangoes from the other parts of the State. They have produced only 1,400 to 1,500 mats of jelly this season.
“We used to produce at least 400 tonnes of mango jelly every summer. However, production declined in the last two years due to the Covid pandemic. This year, the production has declined due to a shortage of mangoes. We were forced to bring mangoes from other parts of the State. The prices of mangoes have doubled, taking the expenditure for jelly production 2-3 times higher than normal,” said G Ramunaidu, a jelly maker from Bheemili village.
“We have produced only 1400 to 1500 mats this year. We had to spend at least `120 to `140 per kg of mango jelly this year. However, we are not getting a corresponding increase in market price. The wholesale traders are asking for the mango jelly for `120 a kg. Therefore, the mango jelly makers incurred losses this year. We do not have cold storage to stock our product. Therefore, we are selling the product even at a loss,” he added.
Speaking to TNIE, G Satyam of Bheemili village said, “We had lost our livelihood in the last two years due to the Covid pandemic. We expected good returns this year, but the low production of the mangoes shattered our hopes. It seems to be difficult to continue the trade in the coming years as we are incurring losses due increasing production cost.”