Alphonso is the best brand of mangoes!

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Mango stake: Brand Devgad Alphonso’s King

Growers Seek Trademark To Weed Out Fakes

Omkar Sapre

PUNE

THE KING of kings is guarding his territory fiercely. Nothing comes close to the super premium Devgad Alphonso, as its growers will tell you. And this time round, they’re not letting the fakes get away with blatant plagiarism.

In the sleepy Konkan taluka of Devgad, the heartland of alphonso production, growers of the ‘exclusive’ fruit are getting together with a passion and are seeking to register their brand as a trademark.Peel the layers, and you’ll find just fakes, they’re saying. The Devgad association of mango growers is expecting a final order on the trademark registration soon. Once the trademark is registered, the association will allow growers from the taluka to use the name and initiate legal action against traders selling other mango varieties under the Devgad name.

At present, there are no plans to charge a levy for the use of the trademark.The alphonso or hapus, as it is popularly known, grown in Devgad is regarded as ‘the king of kings’. Fostered by a unique combination of soil, water and weather in the coastal region, the Devgad Alphonso matures into a bright yellow fruit with a red blush.

Devgad taluka, comprising 70 villages, produces close to 50,000 tonnes of alphonso, with 45,000 acres under cultivation. The taluka, which accounts for more than half of the alphonso production in the country, generates revenues of almost Rs 130 crore.

‘Fakes dilute Brand Devgad’

SANTOSH Patkar, manager of the Devgad Taluka Mango Growers Co-operative Society (DTMGCS), said: “Many mango traders all over the country are using the Devgad Alphonso or Devgad Hapus as a generic brand name to sell any variety of mango. This is giving a bad name to the Devgad Alphonso.

We have decided to register the Devgad Alphonso and Devgad Hapus as the trademark brands of DTMGCS, to stop rampant brand dilution. We will allow the use of these names for marketing alphonso mangoes produced in Devgad and also for processed products made from these mangoes.”

DTMGCS has around 600 members, of the 6,000-odd growers in Devgad taluka, but plans to extend the benefit of the trademark to the rest. “After getting the trademark registered in our name, all the growers in Devgad can use it to market their produce. This will also act as a deterrent to growers in areas like Ratnagiri, Vengurla, Sawantwadi etc, who market their mango produce in boxes marked Devgad Alphonso. Customers will also know what the real Devgad Alphonso is.We filed for the trademark registration a few years ago and after many hearings, it is now in a decisive stage. We hope to get the final order within a couple of months, in time for the next season,“ Mr Patkar said.

Vidyadhar Joshi, a mango grower from Devgad who is also a member of the Dapoli Agricultural University’s alphonso research panel, said, “Traders have been selling, and customers have been buying any mango variety loosely resembling the alphonso, under the name of Devgad Alphonso. Traders in markets other than Mumbai too sell mangoes as Devgad Alphonso, saying they have been sourced directly from Devgad. It is a misconception that Devgad Alphonso is available in cities other than Mumbai.”

All of Devgad’s mango growers traditionally supply their produce only to the Vashi wholesale market, where they are sure of getting their price; they have never felt the need to supply to other markets. Some traders from the Vashi market may well be sending mango boxes to other markets, but that is usually when supply is in excess. This time round, though, no one may take chances.

omkar.sapre@timesgroup.com

The processing industry helps Alphonso mango growers!

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Alphonso growers find a friend in need
Processing sector comes to rescue of Rain-Hit Mango Growers, Pays Better, Too
Omkar Sapre
PUNE
IT SEEMS to have been a blessing in disguise. When unseasonal rains hit the Konkan in March, the mango growers here had found themselves with almost no market for their famed Alphonso mangoes. However, they were saved by the processing industry, which bought up all their produce, and in the process also showed the farmers that here was a dependable, and better paying, alternative to the Vashi wholesale market in Navi Mumbai. And having played the good Samaritan, the mango processing industry is now asking growers to increase their supplies to the processing sector.

The week-long rains in March in the Alphonso-producing districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg had led to fungal infections in these much-favoured fruits, affecting their market. Although the fruits were still edible, the black spots on the skin turned away retail customers, the traditional consumers. That is when the processors moved in, helping the growers by buying up the unsold fruits.

The processing industry, which has close to 90 units in the two districts, is estimated to have bought close to 2,000 tonnes of mangoes and expects to receive a similar amount in the next three weeks. The irony is that these processors have long been trying to persuade the growers to recognise the industry as an independent business stream, that can yield more profits to growers.

“The processing industry has become indispensable considering the sorry state of the fresh mango business over the last five years due to weather fluctuations,” says Sunil Thakur, president, Sindhudurg District Fruit Processing Industries Association, adding “This year, too, when the fresh fruits-market was not able to give affordable returns to the growers, the processing industry has given a premium price for their market-rejected produce. Most of the processing units purchased the Alphonso (mangoes) at Rs 20-22 a kg against the normal rate of Rs 15-18.” “Most of the processing units purchased the Alphonso at Rs 20-22 a kg against the normal rates of Rs 15-18,” he said.

The first-quality mangoes usually fetch around Rs 30-35 a kg for the farmers in the Vashi wholesale market. Growers have typically passed on halfripe or three-fourth ripe fruits for processing. The processors are now trying to persuade them to supply them with fully ripe fruits. “Growers should supply goodquality fruit and we are ready to pay a competitive price for that,” said Mr Thakur.Major fruit processing companies in India include Parle, Dabur, Godrej and others, who make various fruit juices for a fast growing Indian market.

And the mango growers are listening. Suhas Lele, a mango farmer in Sindhudurg, says this year they were saved by the processing industry. “Next year, we will seriously consider this option instead of using it as a last resort,” he said.Fourteen farmers from five villages in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts have got together and decided to free themselves from excessive reliance on the Vashi market.

Madhav Lele, one of these farmers, from Mutat village said: “We have come together because fourteen of us have got our orchards certified according to the GlobalGap standards (for good agricultural practices). So we know that our mango produce is of the best quality. We have decided that if the traders do not give us an adequate price, we will not send our produce to the market. We will sell our produce to the processing industry since it offers the best prices for best produce. And since we follow GlobalGap, we will not send unripe mango to the market.”

Uday Khare, a technocrat and founder-director of the Thane-based Malhar Associates, equipment manufacturer for the food processing industry, is planning to tie up with mango growers wherein he will install pulping machines on farms and buy the pulp from them. omkar.sapre@timesgroup.com

Mangoes to be costly this year!

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Crop delay spells costlier Alphonso
First Batch Of Konkan Mangoes To Arrive In April 2008 Against March Last Year
Omkar Sapre
PUNE
THOSE who savoured juicy Alphonso mangoes this season at cheaper prices will have to shell out more in the next season as the king of fruits is likely to make a delayed entry. Mango trees in the Konkan belt, one of the largest mango growing regions in the country, have just started to blossom, signalling a delayed crop. The first batch of mangoes are expected to arrive in April against the February-March period every year. This might affect mango growers as exports to large markets such as Japan and the US, which opened last year, may not be served fully, farmers said.

The American and Japanese governments had banned the import of Indian mangoes on concerns that diseases through fruit flies, that infest the fruit, may spread to those countries. Last year Japan lifted the ban on mango imports on condition that the fruits will be subjected to a vapour heat treatment. The US also opened its markets to Indian mangoes with a mandatory irradiation treatment, after special teams from both the countries inspected the treatment facilities in Maharashtra.
India exports only the Alphonso and Kesar varieties of mangoes. Alphonso mangoes are mainly grown in the Konkan region, especially in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga districts. According to the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board, which is also involved in the export of mangoes, about 2.93 lakh tonnes mangoes are grown over an area spread over 346,538 acres. Both the districts have been declared as agri export zones. Devgad village in Sindhudurga district produces one of the world’s biggest Alphonso mangoes, about 50,000 tonnes every year.

But ironically, the region does not have treatment plants necessary to export to the US and Japan.The VHT facility is located at Vashi in Navi Mumbai, while the irradiation treatment plant is based at Lasalgaon in Nasik, both of them about 400 to 700 km far from the Alphonso-producing areas. Marathwada leads the production of the Kesar variety with about 133,635 tonnes of mangoes grown on 85,323 acres. Though the region is closer to the irradiation facility, the VHT plant is almost 350 km away.

Despite the lifting of export bans, mango farmers from Konkan are grappling with political and bureaucratic problems that has been slowing their efforts. Their demands for a minimum support price for mangoes used in the processing sector, on the lines of sugarcane, have not been met. “Though exports to Japan and America started last year, the farmers weren’t able to export their produce and we have dim hopes that we will be able to export it this year either,” said Sudhir Joshi, president of the Devgad Mango Growers Association. “In spite that our region is an agri export zone, we do not have the VHT and irradiation facilities. The agriculture marketing board has provided us with cold storage and other packing facilities, but they are not sufficient for exports. We also need a laboratory for testing the quality of soil, fertilisers and pesticides, which is a mandatory requirement for exports.”

Arun Gogate, a mango grower from Devgad, said, “Mediating traders make the most out of the mango trade. If basic facilities are made available near our region, then the farmers can also start exporting mangoes directly to America and Japan. We have also been asking for a minimum support price for mango.”Lack of effective marketing facilities in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga are also working against the mango farmers. Retail players who claim to buy mangoes directly from farmers are also not offering any help.

Another mango grower, requesting anonymity, said, “Last year, two big retail players had visited farmers in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga for direct sourcing of mangoes. Instead of setting up collection centres in the region, they bought about 98% of the mangoes from traders in Vashi.”

State Marketing minister Harshawardhan Patil told the ET that MSAMB will also start mango exports this year.

THE BITTER SIDE
• Delayed season might affect mango growers as exports to large markets such as Japan and the US may not be served fully
• Though export bans by the US and Japan are off, mango farmers are grappling with political and bureaucratic problems. Their demand for minimum support price has not been met yet
• Lack of effective marketing facilities in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga are also working against the mango farmers.
omkar.sapre@timesgroup.com

Where did all the mangoes go?

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Cropped out? Where have all the mangoes gone

Omkar Sapre

DEVGAD

YOUR favourite fruit in the summer may not be available that easily. Although the May-June period every year is considered to be peak business time for mango producing regions, a reduced crop season in the most vital place — the Devgad taluka in Konkan — is likely to restrict supplies of the king of fruits this summer. A torrential spell of rain during March 22-27 has affected the ripening of the famous breed — alphonso — with most of the remaining crop developing black spots that could render the fruit unfit for export and even for sale locally, according to Santosh Patkar, manager of the Devgad Taluka Mango Growers Co-operative Society.

“The alphonso crop has just been wiped out this time. We are estimating that growers might be able to lay hands on merely 20% of their total mango produce. Most of the available mango will be diverted towards the canning industry which will leave very little for table consumption,” he said.

Mango production is a very typical process and heavily dependant on a dry environment. “The sudden humidity after the rainfall in March, a hot month, fostered a fungal attack which destroyed almost 80% of the crop,” said Arun Gogate, a mango grower in Jamsande, one of the villages in Devgad, adding “The attack was so severe that no grower could do anything to save the crop. The sun did not show up anytime during the six days of rainfall. As a result, the soil held back water helping the fungus to fester. Fungicide spraying too was useless”.

The Devgad taluka, which comprises 70 villages, produces the world best alphonso mango. With a total area of 45,000 acres under alphonso cultivation, the taluka has a production capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes, that generates revenue of almost Rs 130 crore. The taluka accounts for most of the alphonso production in the country.The reduced production has seen large corporate retailers too being hit.

Major players such as Reliance Fresh, Subhiksha are learnt to have settled for other varieties. “Many of these companies are now buying alphonso from Ratnagiri, which is 20% cheaper and from Vengurla, which is about 30% lower than our prices,” said Mr Patkar. Retail company officials were unwilling to comment. “We tried hard to procure mangoes as much as possible, but could only get about 10% of our requirement from Devgad. The mango that is available has a lot of black spots on it. Though these mangoes are good inside, their appearance will turn away customers. So we are moving toward other varieties like Ratnagiri mango or even the Kesar mango to fill our shelves,” said one retailer.

omkar.sapre@timesgroup.com