Want mangoes @ Re 1? Come to Lucknow

BUSINESS DOWN: Mango farmers have suffered a loss of Rs 40 crore due to the recent storm.

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Lucknow: Now, mango business doesn't seem to be bearing fruit. Across UP, more than 70 per cent of mango crop have fallen from the trees in a recent storm.

These raw mangoes are now being sold in the open market for as low as 50 paise to Re 1 per kg. In Lucknow the markets are virtually flooded with raw Dusserrie mangoes.

In the storm that hit the state on Wednesday, more than 70 per cent of raw mangoes fell off the trees.

“We are not even getting rupees one for a kg of mangoes these days. We will not even meet the transportation cost,” says one farmer.

Some farmers headed to the market hoping that there will be buyers. But that hope was short-lived. With each passing day raw mangoes are piling up in the mandis.

Malihabad is the state's mango belt with 90 per cent people engaged in mango cultivation. And Dusshehri is the most famous variety. These mangoes normally ripe in the first week of June and fetch the farmers anything between Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg. But farmers say this has been one of the worst seasons.

“Severe damage to mango crop what will we eat? This time its worse than before,” says a farmer.

According to a rough estimate, mango farmers have suffered a loss of more than Rs 40 crore due to the recent storm.

With only about 20 to 25 per cent of crop now left on the trees the prices of mangoes are likely to shoot up in the coming days.