Mango Board to link farmers, consumers and bulk buyers

As the second phase of the lockdown stretches to May 3, the Mango Board is trying to open different pathways to ensure that the produce reaches the consumers and doesn’t burn the farmers during the ‘off year’ when the yield is expected to come down by more than 30%.

Agriculture Department principal secretary Rajendra Kumar Kataria, also the chairman of the Karnataka Mango Development And Marketing Board, said several strategies have been drawn up to facilitate the sale of the mangoes.

“This year is considered as ‘off year’ which is normal for every alternate year. The total produce for 2020 is expected to be around 9 to 10 lakh tonnes, a dip from the usual output of 12 to 14 lakh tonnes. Even then, the department has drawn up plans to clear the stock,” he said.

The Board’s online sale portal has already received orders for 800 boxes (3 kg each) of mangoes which will be delivered by the post offices. In yet another move, an effort is on to link whole apartment complexes with farmers through resident welfare associations (RWA). “RWAs have already placed orders for 1 tonne and we expect this to increase in the coming days,” Kataria said.

Two new connections

Going a step further, the department is connecting bulk buyers and food processing industries with the farmers. This will bring the bulk buyers to the farm, cutting the need for the farmers to arrange for transport of the fruit. Similarly, the food processing industries, which consume 35% of the entire produce, will pick up the fruits directly from the farms.

Ramanagar APMC has already started receiving the first batch of the king of fruits and officials expect the arrivals to shoot up in the coming days. Usually, the arrival increases from 10,000-20,000 tonnes per week in March-April to nearly 50,000 tonnes per week in the peak season in May.

Kataria said the department has reached out to bulk buyers in the neighbouring states that to prevent glut in the market. “Besides Tamil Nadu and Kerala, we are looking at Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh where the local produce has not yet come to the market. We have already spoken to bulk buyers in these states and received a positive response from them,” he said.

Last year, the Board had shipped 25 tonnes of mango to Europe. But the officials said they have dropped hopes of ramping it up this year. “About 5% of the produce, mostly Alphonso variety, was exported last year. We were planning to increase the export and build a brand for our mango. The economic crisis has complicated the matter and such plans may not be feasible now,” a Board official said.