Mango mela will be low-key affair thanks to COVID-19 lockdown

The annual ‘Mango & Jackfruit Mela’ will be a low-key affair this year, thanks to the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keeping the farmers’ interests in mind, the horticulture department will hold the mela in all the 232 Hopcoms outlets, starting May 15. While Hopcoms was preparing to hold the event at the Lalbagh gardens, as it did in the previous years, the COVID-19 outbreak came as a spoiler.

Hopcom sources confirmed to DH that the mela will now be held in 232 stalls and 40 mobile stores. “We expected the lockdown to end on May 3, but COVID-19 cases are being reported every day. So, we have decided to hold the mela in the stalls. We will finalise the date and duration,” Hopcoms managing director B N Prasad said.

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Hopcoms chairperson Chandregowda said the agency would hold the mela at the same time since the first harvested mangoes of the season enter the market in the first week of May.

“Areas like Ramanagaram, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural have given a good yield this year as well. There has been a great demand for Alphonso mangoes. We will (probably) symbolically flag off the mela in our head office,” he said.

Postal service a hit

The partnership between the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Board and India Post to sell mangoes by postal delivery has been a resounding success.

A fortnight after the service was launched, the department managed to sell 45 tonnes of mango (15,000 boxes) of different varieties.