COVID-19 crisis | Here's how mango farmers and retailers are hoping to save the king of fruits

By then I hope the transport issue is resolved,” he says, sharing how just last week he had 100 bunches of bananas, but his regular buyer offered just ₹ 5 per kilo, instead of the market rate of ₹13. Even with a green pass, we have to re-establish the network and transporters have to register with the police... this process will affect marketing.” While local efforts to buy produce from farmers directly may help in smaller cities, he feels the government should step in and buy in bulk — send a truck and pick up a farmer’s harvest at a good rate, and handle distribution to societies. With lower yields of Alphonso, Banganapalli, Rumani and Imam Pasand at his farm in Madurantakam, in Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district, already throwing a damper on sales; the lockdown isn’t helping his stress levels. A farmer from Sengottai is ready with his Imam Pasand harvest, but there is no way to bring it to the market,” says Murali, who also owns the organic store, The Shandy, in Chennai. “Due to the ban on inter-state transport and postal/courier services, we cannot send consignments to our customers outside Salem,” says Srinivasan, adding that there are problems with delivering locally as well. Tamil Nadu growers start supplying to retailers in Gujarat and North India from May, and if travel restrictions are not removed, they will be left with at least one lakh tonnes of unsold stock. The horticulturist and third-generation farmer from Tirupattur (near Vellore), adds, “Luckily the [untimely] intense winter rain last year delayed mango flowering by almost a month [to January 15], and this may further push the harvest season to mid-June.” Given the current crisis, the best route is for NGOs help link farmers with both, private and public transport plying across the country. “We source our mangoes from farms and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” says Sriram Sridharan, VP of Chennai-based retail chain, SunnyBee. “ We have a network of 15-20 mango farmers (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and North India) and our bestsellers are Sindoori, Malgova, Banganapalli and Imam Pasand.