PATNA: The untimely thunderstorms and showers over the past couple of weeks has adversely affected mango plantation , which in turn has led to rise in the prices of the fruit. Malda variety mango this year are selling at Rs170/kg compared to Rs100/kg in the initial days last year.“The price of Gulabkhaas is Rs130/kg, Bambaiya Rs140/kg, Himsagar Rs110/kg and Jardalu is selling at Rs160/kg, comparatively higher than the last year,” said Saifi , a fruit vendor at Income Tax roundabout.Lower sales have also been attributed to the higher mango prices . “It is mid-May and mango lovers are yet not biting. The middle class section of mango lovers normally wait for the prices to come down, which is another reason behind buyers being very few and higher prices,” Dharmendra Prasad Gupta, another vendor at Income Tax roundabout said.Consumers also claim they are waiting for better verities of mangoes at lower prices. “We wait for good quality of mangoes. As of now, the market is dominated by artificially ripened mangoes, which lack in flavour and aroma. Those who are unable to wait any longer have to compromise on the quality as a majority of initial batches of mangoes are coated with chemicals such as calcium carbide,” said Ravi Kumar, a resident of Boring Road.The vendors claimed the prices of several other seasonal fruits, including litchi, is also on the higher side. “The price of Bengali variety of litchi has settled around Rs250/kg, which was sold in the range of Rs150-160 last year,” Saifi added.The vendors claimed the Muzaffarpur variety of litchi was yet to arrive. “The price of Muzaffarpur litchis will be Rs150-Rs160 per kg in the initial days and will come down to Rs70-Rs80 after a few days,” Saifi said.According to vendors, the cost of others fruits will continue to remain high till market is flooded with mangoes.Fruits apart, most vendors in Patna claimed that season-friendly vegetables such as bottle guard, cucumber and ladyfinger are garnering a good demand every day despite the comparatively higher prices.Explaining the reason of high prices of mangoes and other seasonal fruits, agriculture production commissioner ( APC ) Sunil Kumar said: “It is all about demand and supply. In initial days (mid-April), the supply is less compared to the demand. But as more batches of mangoes start to come in (end of May), the prices start coming down. There are three major factors that lead to high prices — production, demand and total market strategy.”He said the prices are expected to go down a little towards the May-end.

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