Mango prices may go up in retail market due to less supply from mango-growing States. Delhi is the biggest market for Uttar Pradesh mangoes, followed by Punjab. Mango-growers estimate that the production could be just 10-15 lakh metric tonnes this year as compared to 44 lakh metric tonnes last year.
Traders say that price may go up in the coming days. last year, due to bumper produce, the juicy mangoes were in the reach of common man and the rates hovered between just Rs 20-40 a kg but this year it is between Rs 60 to 90 per kg in the Delhi and NCR. Most of the mangos come from neighbouring UP, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. "Due to decline in production and less supply, the price of mangoes are likely to be high this time ," traders said.
According to traders, mango production in Uttar Pradesh has suffered a lot due to frequent dust storms that have hit the crop hard this year. There is 60 percent less mango production in 2017-18 in UP. Due to poor production, mango export business has also hit a hard. Due to the poor production, the All India Mango Growers Association (AIMGA) has demanded that mango be covered under the Prime Minister's crop insurance scheme.
In Uttar Pradesh, mango is produced in an area of 2.5 lakh hectares. lucknow, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Bulandshahar, Saharanpur, Faizabad, Varanasi, Moradabad, Barabanki, Meerut, Unnao, Sitapur, Hardoi, Gorakhpur, Basti, JP Nagar and Mathura are the major mango producing belts in the state. Popular varieties like chausa, dashehari, fazli, gulab khas, langra, mallika and amrapali are produced in the state.
The lucknow belt, which produces world famous Dussehri mangoes besides langda and chausa, alone comprises 30-40 per cent of the state's annual mango production. During 2010, the total arrival of mango in the market from lucknow region was roughly 87,000 tonnes. The corresponding figures for 2008 and 2009 stood at 52,000 tonnes and 34,000 tonnes, respectively.
The main mango producing states in India are Uttar Pradesh (23.86%), Andhra Pradesh (22.14%), Karnataka (11.71%), Bihar (8.79%), Gujarat (6.00%) and Tamil Nadu (5.09%).
According to Ministry of Agriculture, India occupies top position among mango growing countries of the world and produces 40.48% of the total world mango production. China and Thailand stood at second and third position among mango producing countries in the world with 4,366 and 2,551 thousand tons respectively. The other major mango producing countries in the world are Thailand (2550 thousand tons), Pakistan (1784 thousand tones), Maxico (1633 thousand tones) and Indonesia (1314 thousand tones) respectively.