Customer is the King and Kings do not bargain reads a slogan on the walls of the makeshift shops which sell the 'King of Fruits' in Dharwad.Yes, the customer is really not in a position to bargain while buying alphonso (aapus) variety of mango in Dharwad district, thanks to the dip in yield this season.
Dharwad is known for the tasty alphonso but the weather has played spoilsport resulting in a low yield.
There has been a shortfall in the supply of the fruit to market to the extent of 35-40 per cent.
This has resulted in the price of the mango variety shooting up. A dozen of good quality aplhonso is priced in the range of Rs. 250-Rs. 300 at retail shops.
Dharwad is known for exporting the 'aapus' to western countries and even Australia.
But this time the exporters are
finding it extremely difficult to meet the demand. Till last year, nearly 20,000 boxes of mango, each weighing 10 kg, arrived in March.
However, this March, less than a quarter of that quantity - 3,000 boxes - has reached the market, said fruit vendor Javali.
The situation is not likely to ease and it is expected that even by the middle of the season the wholesale price of six dozen mangoes, that was anywhere between Rs. 1,000 to 2,500 last year, will be around Rs. 4,000.
Siddhalingappa, a mango grower said that the flowering took place in January and February instead of the usual flowering period of November because of heavy rains and erratic weather.
Those who were supplying an average of 160 quintals of mango are able to supply only 20 quintals this year.
The farmers are forced to spend heavily on pesticides and are now worried over recovering the cost.
