Untimely rains and strong gales appear to have hit mango exports, as evidenced by the fact that no rakes of the South Central Railway (SCR) have been booked to export the fruit to other States this year.
Andhra Pradesh is a major mango exporter. Farmers from Nuzvid, Agiripalli, A. Konduru, Chintalapudi, Eluru, Banjara, Reddygudem, Mylavaram, Kallur and other parts of Telangana export large consignments of mangoes through the South Central Railway (SCR) to other States and even abroad.
“Indian mangoes, particularly from Andhra Pradesh, were being exported to the United States, Germany, South Korea, Kuwait, Japan, and to countries in the Middle East and Europe,” said SCR officials.
Farmers cultivate Banginapalli, Chinna Rasalu, Suvarnarekha, Pedda Rasalu, Neelam, Chakkera Rasalu, Totapuri, Alphonso, Kesar and other varieties in Krishna, West Godavari, Chittoor and other districts in Andhra Pradesh.
Officials of South Central Railway (SCR) said that farmers and exporters would engage about 20 rakes every year for the export of mangoes. Different varieties of mangoes used to be exported between April to May every year. SCR would make special arrangements for mango exports during the summer, said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr.DCM) Vavilapalli Rambabu.
“Due to poor quality of fruit, there are no exports from Vijayawada Railway Division this year. Last year, SCR had supplied 24 rakes for the export of mangoes from the division,” Mr. Rambabu said.
Speaking to The Hindu on Friday, a farmer, B. Nagesh Rao, of Nuzvid said the quality of the fruit has come down due to untimely rainfall in the State.
“Fruit drop occurred due to gales and the damaged mangoes are not fit for exports. This year, farmers and exporters suffered huge losses due to adverse weather,” said Mr. Nagesh, who is also an exporter.
