The famous Alphonso orchards in the Maharashtra districts of Devgad and Ratnagiri have been affected by an unseasonal heatwave that affected the Konkan between February 25 and March 6. Farmers expect to lose up to three-fourths of the crop during its second ripening from mid-April to the end of May.
Around 75% of the fruit’s production in the longer second phase of the harvest might have been lost due to the heatwave, they said, as flowers wilted and unripe mangoes fell to the ground.
From the first ripening phase, when roughly 30% of the annual harvest hits the market around February, there is a total turnaround. According to Sanjay Pansare, director of the fruit market, favourable weather conditions in the winter ensured that the Alphonso supply into the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee market in Vashi tripled compared to March last year, with fruit from Devgad, Ratnagiri, and other districts in the Konkan belt flooding the market.
Because of the lower second phase of Alphonso's production, "this reduced the commodity's price in the first phase, but now we fear that the availability of this mango in the market will be fewer after mid-April," Pansare added. Mango sales this year are not very high due to inflation, therefore farmers and retailers are concerned about losses.
Lower returns are already a problem for farmers. Rajesh Raut, a minor mango farmer from Devgad, stated, "Last week, I sold a total of 50 boxes, each containing 5.5 dozen mangos, for Rs. 2,200. I will receive the money from these sales in June at some point.
"In February, we begin delivering mangoes from trees that bloom in November to the market. After that, around the end of February or the first week of March, the mango trees that blossomed in January and February started to bear mangoes, according to Raut. A mango farmer from Malgund in the Ratnagiri district named Vidyadhar Pusalkar said, "Little fruits fell, and we sustained big losses.
Farmers normally anticipate a healthy harvest if the temperature stays between 35 and 39 degrees Celsius, but from February 25 to March 6, Konkan had temperatures between 37 and 39 degrees, which harmed the mangoes.
"I harvest 500 dozen mangoes every day every year. But, it has dropped to 200 dozen this year, according to Pusalkar. Moreover, Alphonso can only produce 50 to 70 dozen in the second phase because the tree is not producing any more fruit.
In support of Pusalkar's assertion, Vidyadhar Joshi, a farmer from Devgad, claimed that mango producers face significant challenges as a result of the climatic catastrophe. Joshi claimed that since Cyclone Phayan devastated the Konkan in 2009, mango production has decreased. In addition to this, mango diseases like spongy tissue, fruit bee, and many more are costing us a lot of money.
Due to decreased productivity, the Maharashtra State Mango Growers Association has asked the state government for financial support for mango producers.
This year, a significant amount of mangoes were lost to sunstroke, and the first and second weeks of March saw a lot of rain. The association's president, Chandrakant Mokal, claimed that the rains on March 16 and 17 in the Raigad district were to blame for a massive epidemic of fungal illnesses on mangoes. "As a result, the government needs to give mango farmers financial support this year."
But government representatives argued that it was too soon to declare a fall in production. Mangoes are in their first season in March. It would not be appropriate to discuss the upcoming season at this time, a department of cooperation, marketing, and textiles official said on the condition of anonymity. This season has produced good results.
