Uttar Pradesh farmers are expecting exports of mangoes to be hampered this season after a massive sandstorm hit the state last week.
“The fruit was about to ripen when the sandstorm hit our area. Most of the fruits have fallen, leaving mango trees almost fruitless. Now, matured mangoes will be available only in the next month,” Insram Ali, president of the Mango Grower’s Association of India, said.
Last week, Iran had signed an agreement with India to allow mango imports, which provided an opportunity to mango growers from Uttar Pradesh to enter not only that country, but also the Gulf.
However, the sandstorm has damaged over 50% of the fruit. Mango growers from the state are now expressing their helplessness in exporting mango varieties like dasheri, chausa and langda at least until the end of this month.
According to mango expert R P Srivastava, the sandstorm has reduced the production in Uttar Pradesh to 1.5-2mn tonnes this year from the average annual production of 3.5-4mn tonnes.
