Mango production in Konkan shows downtrend

THANE: Production of mangoes in Maharashtra's Konkan region dropped drastically last year as compared to 2011 and 2010, two social organisations working in the coastal area have said.


The production of various varieties of mango in the region has been showing a downward trend since 2010. It was 3.20 lakh MT in 2010, 2.56 lakh MT in 2011 and 1.23 MT in 2012. The output is likely to be around 1.28 MT in the current year, Konkan Vikas Parishad and Sanskar said quoting figures available with them.

The produce has been adversely affected on account of various reasons, including non-seasonal rains and also global warming, they said.

A total of 1,80,000 hectares was under mango cultivation in the coastal region, which is famous for Alphonso variety.

Since the last eight years, Sanskar and Konkan Vikas Parishad have been organising a `Mango Festival' in Thane and other parts of Mumbai to enable farmers to directly sell their produce to the end customers.

This year the festival has been organised from May 1 to May 9.