Kesar mango production likely to decrease by 75% this year

Kesar mango production in the Saurashtra and Kutch region is likely to decrease by 75 percent due to unfavourable weather conditions at the time of flowering. According to Kesar mango traders in Saurashtra region, the Kesar mango production is likely to go down from 50 lakh boxes to 12 to 15 lakh boxes (each box contains 10 kg) as weather was not good in mid February, when mango trees see flowering.

"Earlier in January farmers had expected a bumper crop of the Kesar mango but then untimely rain in February abolished all the expectations. The damage was very huge; almost all the flowers were damaged. Later new flowers came on mango trees but the quantity was very low and as a result Kesar mango production will decline by 70 to 75 percent", said, Talala based farmer and trader Naren Radadiya.

Talala APMC secretary Harsukh Jarsaniya said, "We were expecting that this year about 4 to 5 lakh boxes will come for auction in APMC as against 14.87 lakh last year. Direct buying from the farmers is very nominal. Most of the farmers are trading their products in APMCs at Rajkot, Junagadh, Ahmedabad or any other places. Since the last two to three years no branded companies or exporters have directly bought from the farmers," He further added, "The season of mangoes will start one month late this year. In 2010 the auction had started on April 6, while this year the auction will start only on May 3."

While Kesar mangoes have started to arrive in the market in some places but an actual and full-fledged arrival will only happen in some days says a Rajkot based trader. A similar story is seen in Kutch area where the mango production is likely to decline by 25-30 percent from 70000 to 80000 tonnes to 20000-25000 tonnes this year. Batuksinh Jadeja of Ashapura Farms and Nursery from Kutch said, "Foggy weather damaged a majority of the flowers of mango trees. Moreover, 'powdery mildew' disease in mango trees also hit the production in Kutch and Saurashtra region. Last year I had exported about 100 tonnes of Kesar mango." According to Jadeja, mostly Kesar mango is exported in Dubai, Muscat and London. No other countries of America or UK are likely to import Kesar due to quality measurements.

He added, "The Indian market is very huge and most of the stocks have been used in domestic market." The regions of Dharampur and Kutch from Gujarat are leading for export in the Kesar mango.