Chennai: The unexpected showers that were a respite for commuters and office-goers in the city, however, dampened the prospects of fruit traders, especially those dealing with mango and watermelon as the demand fell drastically over the past one week. The fall in demand is reflected in the wholesale prices of the fruit, especially mangoes, that has dipped to Rs 25 a kg from Rs 40 a month ago. The same holds for watermelons as wholesale prices dipped by over 20 per cent. Tonnes of mangoes are piled up at the central Koyambedu market for the past 10 days as shopkeepers are reluctant to buy them with the demand falling by at least 30 per cent, say traders at the market.
“Most of the sale of fruits such as mango, pineapple and watermelon is during the extreme hot weather, and primarily during the Kathri period. The unexpected rain was not only a blow to traders at the market, but also for vendors,” said Saji Varghese, a fruit vendor at Koyambedu market. Traders feel that the fruit that caters mainly to juice-lovers during the scorching heat has let them down. They also feel that there are fewer takers among roadside fruit vendors as the rain has forced them to close business, at least for the time being. They pin their hopes on the hot weather to prevail in the days to come.
Mango breeds extensively sold such as baganapalli and senthura variety that come extensively from Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri are the ones that are usually sold in the season starting from April and goes on until the end of June. T. Bhasi, a fruit vendor near the Guindy bus stand, feels that unseasonal rains always dampen the sale of fruits such as mango and watermelon. “For most part of the day, we keep the stalls open with rarely any buyers. Moreover, the unseasonal rain has kept us in a fix, as I don’t know to continue selling fruits with business far below expectations,” he said.
There was a fall in production of mangoes grown in Tamil Nadu owing to the unseasonal showers across different parts of the state, which had, during the initial stages of the mango season, dampened the sales of mangoes procured.
