Pune: The mangoes also reach our tables in the form of tinned pulp, juices, and in the edible form of Amba Mawa, Amba Poli and so on.
“Another aspect of mango farming is processing, making Amba Mawa after condensing the pulp, making Amba Poli and canning the pulp/juice. However, these products too come with their own sets of challenges. It is difficult to condense huge quantities of pulp on a domestic level, because you need labour to pluck the ripe mangoes, extracting the juice/pulp and then condensing it. In villages, we do it over the stove. The same is the case for Amba Poli,” says Ashok Paranjape, organic mango farmer, whose crop will be ready to be plucked by May 20.
Talking about canning and bottling, Anil Pendse, owner of Avdhut Products, a mango canning factory, says, “The tin that is used to make the cans/tins comes from China, Taiwan and Japan. The vendor who supplies the tin sheet says this year they are getting it from Japan. It is turned into cans in Gujarat. They are asking us to send our trucks to Gujarat so that the cans can be transported to us. The government has permitted us, but we need to arrange for transport, driver, the police permission and so on.
“Even after that, we can’t guarantee that our goods will be sold. Will the lockdown be lifted by May 3? Will the people step out? We have also heard that people are losing their jobs in the cities, so will buying mango cans be on their wishlist?”
Pendse expected their stock already in the market to be sold by March. But most of it is lying in godowns, or at the homes of the agent, or is in cold storage.
“It has a two-year shelf life, so we can sell it perhaps in June,” he adds.
Shedding light on the pulping industry, Gaurav Gogate, who grows Devgad Hapus, says, “The pulping season starts around April 15, when the volume of mango season increases as they procure it for a lesser rate. Now, because of the lockdown, they aren’t able to source the cans, tetra paks and so on. They also operate through contract labour supply coming from Bihar, Odisha but that is not possible now. Therefore, the farmers don’t have this option either.”
When asked about cold storage option, he says, “We don’t have cold storage options in Devgad. It is available with exporters in Mumbai and that is why the exporters purchased mangoes, to store them, and later export them when the restrictions are lifted. Right now, they are giving no assurance of the rate to the farmers. If the lockdown is extended beyond May 3, then the crop will go waste.”
Let’s hope it doesn’t happen to our favourite fruit.
