Vijayawada: This summer has turned out to be a bitter season for mangoes in Andhra Pradesh. Mango farmers and pulp manufacturers across the state have been grappling with huge losses, as widespread pest infestations and poor-quality yield forced a complete halt to mango pulp and jelly production.Usually, this is the busiest time for Totapuri (Chittoor, Collector) variety mango processing, especially for pulp used in cool drinks, jams, milkshakes, and mango jelly, which are prepared by mixing juice with jaggery or sugar. However this year, the Totapuri crop was devastated by sooty mold and fruit fly infestations. Traders and processing units fear that the extracted pulp will neither taste right nor last more than a few months, posing a serious risk to their investment.“It costs 65 to produce one kilogram of pulp. If it spoils quickly or tastes bad, we lose everything. That’s why we’re not buying or processing mangoes this year,” said Nakka Someswara Rao, a pulp trader from Nunna in NTR district.The impact is being felt from farm to factory. In Nuzvid and Adavinekkalam areas, Totapuri farmers are selling mangoes at 4,000 per tonne, which is below profit levels. “I had not seen a season like this in 15 years. Earlier, traders used to compete to buy mangoes for jelly, but now there’s no demand at all,” said farmer M Ramesh Kumar.As demand for mango jelly is high in states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha, the shortage could lead to increase in prices for mango-based products in the coming months.
