Mango festival kicks off in Pune

The week-long mango festival organised by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) kicked off on Balgandharva premises on Monday. The festival provides an opportunity to mango lovers to buy the fruit directly from the farmers.

The varieties of mangoes such as hapus (alphonso) and pairi grown in the Konkan region are up for sale. “Our aim is to provide fresh mangoes to Puneites directly from the mango growers. This time we have 25 stalls where mangoes from Devgad, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts are on sale,” said Ravi Sahane, a MNS member.

According to the farmers, the mango cultivation has
taken a beating due to unseasonal rain and hot weather conditions.

“This time the yield of mangoes was only 18% to 20% because of the irregular rain and excessive heat. Since many can’t go to the villages, we have brought these mangoes with us so that the customers can buy them at competitive prices,” said Dilip Damri, a farmer from Devgad, who had brought 200 boxes to sell. Another mango grower, Vilas Oak, who hails from Dapoli in Ratnagiri, had brought 100 boxes of Ratnagiri hapus.

“Last year, I sold all my mangoes. This time the prices have soared due to less production. But the quality of the fruit is the same,” added Oak. Two self-help groups have set up stalls selling mango-based goodies such as aam poli, kurdya papdya, amrakhand, mango pulp and pickles.