The Hindu Business Line : Mango output seen hit by rains; exports may drop

Hyderabad, April 4 Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day, generally marks the arrival of the first batch of mangoes. But not this year. Mango farmers across Andhra Pradesh reported heavy damage to mango groves due to incessant rains.

Lower yield

According to farmers, the State would see just 40 per cent of the total production of 35 lakh tonnes. In Chittoor, which leads in mango production, the crop in half the 1.20 lakh acres was damaged.

As a result, mango prices are expected to soar significantly. Export to other States, too, is also expected to be hit.

“We are going to get just 30 per cent of the yield this year. Prolonged spells of fog and rains in the flowering stage had a devastating effect on the yield,” Mr Jayachandra Chowdhary, a farmer in Chittoor whose family owns 120 acres of mango grove, told Business Line over phone.

Mr Sekhar Raju of Puttur in the same district said the rain had disturbed the crop at crucial stages in the last three months in all the mango-growing districts, stymieing the growth.

VHT plants ready

A Ministry of Agriculture official said that crop in 4,600 hectares was damaged in the month of March.

There is, however, some good news for the farmers. The vapour heat treatment (VHT) plants near Tirupati and Nuziveedu, which are being set up with the assistance of AGROS (a State agency for promotion of agriculture), will be ready by the end of this month.

VHTs would help farmers process their produce, making it eligible for export to Japan, which lifted the embargo on mango imports from India last year.

It, however, mandated the importers to ensure that the fruit is free of fruit flies.

Better value

“Soon after Japan’s lifting of the embargo, we decided to set up the VHT plants. They are ready.

“The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, will inaugurate them this month-end,” Mr Bhoopal Reddy, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of AGROS, said.

He felt that the farmers could yield better value by exporting their produce.

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