APMC to revive platforms for mango sales

Common man has to wait for mangoes for a longer time as the king of fruits is being sold at over Rs 180 per kg at agriculture produce marketing companies (APMC).

Chairman K V Nagaraju said the corporation will unveil the online sales portal on Thursday and re-establish the network with apartments to revive the platforms that helped farmers connect directly with consumers last year.

“The price will be dictated by the market. We will only accept the order and pass on the indent to the farmer,” he added.

Last year, as Covid cut off the middlemen, the online portal brought 36,000 customers in direct contact with producing farmers, while the Bangalore Apartment Federation brought lakhs of other customers.

C G Nagaraj, managing director of the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Limited, said only the Sindhura and Badami (Alphonso) crops from Ramanagar were arriving in the market.

“In the APMC itself, the fruit is being sold at Rs 180 to Rs 190. I have never seen mango prices hit such a high mark, usually reserved for apples. It is good for the farmers. We have to wait for 15 to 20 days for the prices to stabilise,” Nagaraj said.

Though the yield is expected to reduce from 14 to 10 lakh tonnes due to the January rains, market dynamics are expected to stabilise the prices.

“Farmers in north Karnataka are eyeing the Delhi market as a high number of Covid cases in Maharashtra has made it difficult to conduct business there,” he said, adding that a clear picture will emerge by the end of the month.