Visakhapatnam: Just before Ugadi festival, mangoes hit the markets in Vizag, keeping the tradition of waiting till Ugadi to taste the fruit and hold temptation at bay till the auspicious day. But the fruits are costlier compared to the previous year and fruit lovers have complained that the taste of the fruits is sour.
The mango fruit seller at rythu bazaars in the city said that the Punukuli mango fruit variety have arrived from K. Kotapadu, Kothavalasa and few other areas from Vizag and Vizianagaram districts.
However, the quantity is very low. The consumers also say that the raw mangoes, which is used for Ugadi Pachadi on the day of Ugadi has turned dearer and one dozen of the raw mangoes cost around Rs 80 to Rs 100.
“Tempted after spotting the mango fruit at the market, I purchased a dozen and tasted it by skipping the traditional obligation of waiting till Ugadi, Telugu New Year to taste the mango,” said K. Siva Kumar, a techie. Though the fruits were glittering and attractive, the taste of the fruit is a little sour, he added.
Probably for the first time in the recent past, few varieties of mangoes have arrived in the market even before Ugadi. However mango lovers have to wait some more time to relish the popular varieties such as Banganapalli,
Suvarnarekha, Rasaalu, Collector and few others, said the mango sellers.
Sources said that mango yield in Vizag, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts in the region has come down this year due to bad weather conditions and the popular varieties of the mangoes may much dearer in the season.
The horticulture officials in the region are also chalking out plans to organise a mango festival to give another chance to Vizagites to pick up their favourite varieties of the carbide free mangoes at affordable prices.
