The Hindu Business Line : Crystal Garden starts commercial production of Alphonso

Located at Narikalpatti village, Dindigul district, the farm, according to its Managing Director, Mr T. Sethupati, has nearly 8,000 Alphonso mango trees. “About 90 per cent of the trees are of Alphonso variety. The remaining include varieties such as Senthura, Banganapalli and Neelam, mainly for cross pollination. We also have other horticultural crops such as coconut and sapota.”

Responding to an email, Mr Sethupati, an agricultural graduate, said he ventured into this project seven years back by converting uncultivated waste lands. “The area was covered with thorns and bushes. I decided to put it to productive use with the subsidy extended by the National Horticultural Board,” he said.

He bought mango saplings from a commercial farm in Tirupathur, created the necessary infrastructure facilities like water, irrigation, fencing, labour sheds, tractors and farm equipments and began raising the trees with finance support from Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

“This is the first year of commercial production. The yield at around 30-40 kg a tree has been quite satisfactory,” he said and added that price levels had plunged to an all-time low of Rs 15-Rs 20 a kg at present.

Asked how he managed, Mr Sethupati said he did “through timely and planned periodical intervention”.

Distribution

Crystal Garden, he said, took the fruit to upcountry markets such as Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad at the start of the season in early February, when the rates were really good. “I have completed my sale this season. There are few fruits left in my garden. I am now planning for the next year,” he said.

He further clarified that Crystal Garden was a global GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certified farm.

Though the mangoes from the Crystal farm have not directly been exported this year, Mr Sethupati said merchant exporters sourced the farm produce for export.

Asked to compare with the Alphonso from the Maharashtra belt, he said “They source the Alphonso mango from Ratnagiri region. We have, with technical support from the Farm Varsity here produced comparable quality fruits in taste, quality and colour. The only difference is in packing and marketing,” he added.

He indicated that Crystal would target merchant dealers, exporters, importers, chain stores and local market the next season.

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