Summer is punctuated by roads carpeted yellow with the copper pod flowers. There’s another yellow that defines the season, other than the ever-present sun, of course. Cue drumroll – Mangoes!
The fruit heralds the start of a new season and helps you survive the scorching summer with some sweetness to look forward to. Rows and rows of this golden yellow fruit decorates the streets, finds a nook on your kitchen counter and ends up on your plate, somehow for every meal. But now with the lockdown in place, how is Chennai satiating its mango-ppetite? Is Banganapalli, considered to be the king of all mangoes and Chennai’s love affair, available in enough quantities in the markets?
Chennai Fruits Commission Agents Association President Srinivasan gives us the big picture. “Usually after April 14 (Tamil New Year) Koyambedu market gets 150 tonnes of Banganapalli every day. Now, we’ve been getting only 40 to 50 tonnes,” he breaks the bad news.
“There are not enough people to bring them. Harvest has been good actually. I recently sent my car to pick up a few loads from Andhra,” he quickly adds, hearing the disappointment in our voice.
Kannan adds, "While Banganapalli arrives from Kerala, Pollachi and Palakkad areas in January and then from Tenkasi, Theni and Periyakulam, once the new year begins, i.e. after April 14, the fruit comes only from Andhra Pradesh."
ASR Kannan, who runs Amman Kani Angadi in Koyambedu market, concurs. “Every summer about 100 to 120 vehicles of small and big sizes drive into the market every day to unload tonnes of mangoes. This year only about 15 to 20 vehicles are coming. Shop owners are not interested to buy more since there’s only a small window to sell them,” he explains.
As per the Tamil Nadu government’s mandate for the lockdown, essential services like fruit and vegetable markets are allowed to function between 6 am and 1 pm daily. “Last year I bought one tonne of mangoes daily, now I’m buying only 100 kg,” Kannan adds.
Kannan also highlights, “Mango is a fruit that people like to touch, smell and then buy. They handpick each fruit from the market. You can’t just give them a pack and say keep it. Since shopkeepers are unable to display the fruit, that also is a reason why sales have gone down.”
But there’s one good thing that has come out of this, says Srinivasan. “Pushcart sellers and basket sellers are benefiting while supermarkets aren’t. That’s a good thing,” he says.
The mangoes are priced very low as well. Banganapalli is being sold for Rs 30 to Rs 40 per kg in the wholesale markets compared to Rs 80 to 90 (wholesale) last year. Another popular variety, Imam Pasand, is sold for Rs 80 to 100 per kg in the wholesale markets while Alphonso is priced at Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg.
Srinivasan adds, “Peether (aka Natasala) and Mulgoa varieties are priced between Rs 40 and Rs 60 per kg while Senthura is priced between Rs 30 and Rs 50.”
The Vitamin C brigade
Like that moderate-speed runner suddenly racing past everyone in a marathon at a turn, an unusual fruit is now leading the fruit parade this season much to everyone’s surprise.
“There’s high demand for orange, you won’t believe it. On wholesale itself it is being sold at Rs 75 per kg,” says Srinivasan.
Kannan adds, “All these fruits in which you peel off the skin like orange and sweet lime are selling well. People think it’s safer to consume such fruits than those you eat with the skin, like apple, mango, grapes, etc.”
“With all the advertisements hailing Vitamin C raising immunity levels, people prefer oranges. Watermelon, which is usually in high demand in the summer, comes to the market at Rs 1 and is sold at Rs 5 in the wholesale market,” Srinivasan points out.