ASHWINIMSRIPA D By Express News Service BENGALURU: The one thing that everyone looks forward to, during summer, is mangoes — the king of fruits. However, here’s a dampener for mango lovers — this year, the yield has decreased and owing to the outbreak of coronavirus, farmers have stopped harvesting the fruit for transport and selling. Karnataka is among the top mango growers in the country. It grows mangoes in 1.7 lakh hectares in 16 districts, including Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad and Ramanagara. Chikka Byregowda from Ramanagara Mango Growers Association said that in their district, there are over 5,000 mango growers. This year, the yield has already started coming in at Ramanagara and Channapattana. “In many places, people aren’t able to pluck mangoes as they cannot step out,” he said. Gowda said one of the major problems is transportation and marketing. “We are not getting any vehicles for transportation. Also, there is no APMC yard here at this time. We cannot leave the fruits on the tree for long. We also can’t keep it for long after being plucked,’’ he said. Every year, he would send fruits to Mumbai, Ahmedabad and other places outside Karnataka. However, now, with roads being blocked, they cannot transport it. Recently, growers from Ramanagara appealed to the District Commissioner to arrange selling of fruits in various apartment complexes through BBMP. “Through this, farmers can sell their crop directly,’’ he added. “If not this, we will lose our crops. With hail stones, many of our crops are damaged and now the virus has just made it worse,’’ he added. Chinnappa Reddy, President of Kolar Mango Growers association said the yield is expected to come by end of April or first week of May. “We are hoping the issue will be resolved by that time. In Karnataka, we do not have any pulp industry, so we send it to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,’’ he said.

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