Both farmers and traders are unhappy with recent trends at the Nunna Mango Market in Vijayawada. The market is said to be the biggest mango market in Asia with consignments accounting for 2000 metric tonnes being dispatched to different cities daily.
During the season, merchants came from all the major towns in the country and purchased fruit in auctions. Once purchased, the fruit was packed in bamboo baskets (plastic crates are being used now) and sent in trucks to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, where there was considerable demand for it. The raw mango was ripened en route with carbide being sprinkled in the fruit baskets.
However, conditions at the market turned adverse for the farmers over time. The merchants who were from other states evolved a “secret handshake” system to keep the farmers in the dark in the so-called open auction. With the traders exploiting the farmers, several of them preferred to sell of their produce from the garden itself. Some farmers, who became debt ridden, initiated the trend of taking advances. In this system, the farmers have no say about the price. The merchant and farmer decide a price and some advance is paid even before the flowering stage. When the crop is ready, the merchant harvests the fruit and pays rest of the amount. So the entire profit went to the merchant.
Last year, things also turned bitter for the merchants with the government banning the use of carbide and the secret handshake system.
A Delhi-based merchant, who preferred anonymity, said if fruits were ripened before transportation, they would be damaged while in transit. Losses would be heavy if fruit was ripened after transportation. Carbide ripening was crucial for the mango export business.
