12 tonnes of fruits sold on first day

Mysore/Mysuru: The three-day Mango Mela, organised jointly by Karnataka Mango Development and Marketing Board, Department of Horticulture and Zilla Panchayat (ZP) Mysuru, which began on May 27 saw 12 tonnes of various type of mangoes being sold on the first day. The Mela will conclude today.

Over 24 stalls were set up for mango growers from Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara Chikkaballapur and Kolar, who have kept over 12 varieties of luscious mangoes on sale which are naturally ripened. The mango varieties that were put up for sale were Badami, Raspuri, Malagova, Amrapali, Imam Pasand, Sendhura, Dussheri, Mallika, Sakkaraguthi, Kalpahad and Baganapalli.

Though customers initially complained of high prices and not much difference in the prices of the fruits when compared to the open market, the farmers, convinced them that crop loss due to unseasonal rain, irregular flowering and decaying fruits had contributed to the price rise.

Customers were wooed by saying that they have not used any artificial methods or chemicals to ripen the mango but have followed the natural ripening process. Moreover, the transport cost has increased due to a hike in fuel prices.

Though many customers just looked at the varieties and did some window shopping while some made purchases of limited on select special varieties, the sales picked up later and 12 tonnes of mangoes were sold, which has brought smiles on the faces of mango growers and Mela organisers.

As customers began to throng the Mela on Friday evening, thieves had a field day and they lifted mobile phones of customers which forced the City Top Cop to deploy Police personnel in plain clothes at the Mela venue to put brakes on mobile phone thieves yesterday.

Parking fee

On the first day, the Horticulture Department began collecting parking fee from customers and following opposition from them, the collection of parking fee was dropped which resulted in people thronging the Mela venue. Department officials had to deploy staff to control the crowd.

The public were heard saying that it was better if parking fee was levied as it would have controlled the crowd. A team of officials and staff led by Horticulture Department Assistant Director Naveen Kumar have been deployed to supervise at the Mango Mela.

The Mango Mela, which concludes today, is open to public from 9 am to 9 pm.