Cyclone Tauktae: Mango farmers in Gujarat fear serious losses

According to the farmers, 70-80 per cent of mangoes in Gujarat are to be harvested

Apart from wreaking widespread devastation, Cyclone Tauktae might also affect the mango yield in Gujarat this year.

Mango growers in the Saurashtra region are worried due to the expected landfall and heavy rains.

Farmers in Gujarat are yet to harvest 75% of their mango cultivation for this year. The fruits and the trees can survive normal rain, but farmers are scared that heavy rains and strong winds will damage the fruit.

“We have issued an advisory to the farmers to pluck as many mangoes as they can and sell them. If the cyclone results in strong winds, both ripe as well as unripe mangoes will get hit,” said Dr C K Timbadiya, senior scientist and head of Kendra of Navsari Agricultural University told The Times Of India.

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“The major harvest begins after Akshaya Tritiya, which was celebrated. But since markets were also closed because of Eid and the weekend, farmers were going to start plucking over the weekend and next week,” Vinod Desai, a farmer in Valsad told the publication.

After Akshaya Tritiya, the markets are filled with varieties of mangoes at a price benefitting both sellers and buyers. However, this year due to the cyclone, the farmers are expecting to have very few good-quality mangoes to be available in the market, so the prices will be increased to cover the losses.

Right now, 20 kg of Alphonso costs around Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,800, Kesar costs Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 and Rajapuri costs Rs 900.