Navi Mumbai: That mango lovers are waiting eagerly for their favourite fruit even though the usual season is nearly four months away was apparent on Friday when the first batch of Devgad Alphonso mangoes arrived at the Vashi Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market and got sold out within hours.
Because the customary ceremonial inauguration of the mango season takes place around Diwali, abhijit Bhujbal from Janardhan and Company said Friday’s arrival was particularly unusual. He has around 1,000-1,100 mango trees in the orchard and also manages other orchards on contract. Bankar hopes to send 5-7 more crates from his orchard to Janardhan and Company within the next few days, followed by 5-10 crates around Diwali.
We repeatedly applied fungicide to protect the fruit from rain, although spraying requires a great deal of effort,” he told Hindustan Times. “This is the earliest arrival over the years, thanks to the farmer’s hard work,” said Bhujbal. “We put a protective cover around the blossoms and nurtured them despite the unfavourable weather. The first batch of mangoes usually arrive at the market by November, he noted. All mangoes in Friday’s consignment were from Bankar’s own orchard in Girye-Rameshwar village under Devgad taluka. His brother Vidyadhar is also involved in the family mango business. These consignments too are likely to fetch premium prices, as the commercial season begins only in January and gathers momentum in February.
On Thursday, which marked Sankashti – an auspicious day as per the Hindu calendar, he dispatched the first consignment for Mumbai, which reached wholesaler Janardhan and Company at the Vashi APMC market on Friday.
