Save the Indian Mango

The national fruit needs help in the time of Covid-19. Farmers, chefs and others weigh in

#SaveTheIndianMango

The national fruit needs help in the time of Covid-19. Pulping could be a solution as can collectives on social media. Farmers, retailers, chefs and others weigh in

In Tuzuk e Jahangiri, his autobiography, Mughal emperor Jahangir makes a telling remark. While visiting Kabul, surrounded by juicy peaches, Mirzai apricots, Babur’s favourite melons and more, he writes that “not one is as delicious as the mango in my opinion”. Indeed, if there is one fruit with a pan-Indian resonance, it is the mango.

For more than 4,000 years — ever since the Mangifera indica was domesticated in eastern India — the mango has inspired love, poetry, art, ritual and cuisine. Even when varieties like the Langra, Chausa, Himsagar, Hapus, Banganapalli and Neelam are not in season, there are plenty of references to enjoy. From the auspicious leaves hanging from doorways and ambi motifs in fashion and art to gourmet delights such as kaliya amba and aamras.

Exports on shaky ground

We export almost 50,000 tonnes of the fruit annually, but more importantly we exported trees, and consequently the mango culture, to different parts of the world — Southeast Asia (Buddhist monks travelled bearing saplings), Africa and South America (via the Portuguese). Domestically, it is our most popular fruit, with India growing about 1,500 varieties. This year, however, it is likely to languish.

Arifa Rafee owns two organic mango farms on the outskirts of Hyderabad
 
| Photo Credit:
Picasa

In a world ravaged by Covid-19, exports (which traditionally happen in May) look uncertain. Also, with the lockdown, there is the question as to whether enough fruit will reach customers. Several wholesale mandis are open, various state governments have made provisions to buy agricultural produce directly from farmers, and food retailers remain open too. But how customers access these, bottlenecks in deliveries, and restaurants and catering services remaining shut will impact business.

I talk to Arifa Rafee, who owns two organic mango farms on the outskirts of Hyderabad and runs the farm to table company AR4. Mango output in 2020 has already been impacted by delayed monsoon, cyclones and other climactic factors. Of the average 20-30 tonnes from her farms, Rafee is now expecting just 50% of the fruit to ripen. “Of this, we will be able to sell only 50%,” she anticipates, because a bulk of her domestic orders are home deliveries through e-commerce, and exports remain uncertain.

“Our main problems are that the labourers that picks the mangoes have gone to their villages, couriers are closed and there are transportation issues. We export half of our produce but though freights and cargo flights are on, our international partners may not place orders [they may not be able to distribute]. Moreover, some countries like the US and Australia have strict systems of grading quality. Their inspectors visit us and pass consignments. This year, they won’t be able to come,” she says, before the conversation moves to rare varieties such as Azam us Samar (distinctive for its size — two to three times that of a regular mango — aroma and sweetness), whose grafting she got from the Nizam’s garden in Hyderabad. “For decades, the fruits have been sent every year from the Nizam’s family to Queen Elizabeth.” Such delicious exchanges will stop now, as well as exports to emerging markets such as South Korea, where the Mallika (a cross between the Neelam from Tamil Nadu and the sweet Dussehri from Lucknow) has been popular in recent years.

The Benishan or Banginapalli mangoes from Andhra Pradesh
 
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Special Arrangement

Local champions

Meanwhile, in Ratnagiri, the heart of Alphonso country, the season is delayed and production is likely to fall by 40%. This, added to Covid-19 woes, means that prices may hugely vary and supplies disrupted. Chef Prateek Sadhu, of Mumbai’s award-winning Masque restaurant, says that he received a quote from his supplier for ₹1,800 per dozen Hapus. When I checked on e-commerce websites for small retail orders, the prices were almost double this! Though Masque is shut for now, Sadhu is planning to start a delivery service from the restaurant kitchen, and says he would like to use varieties like Chausa, Pairi and Badami in his menus. “All three have distinct flavours and styles,” he points out.

When chefs help

  • Rakesh Raghunathan, chef and food show host, plans to create awareness about mango farmers — tweaking recipes using local mangoes and posting on social media on how to use the fruit in mainstream dishes and pickles. “Connecting farmers with end users is important and I will look at kickstarting a collective effort to put out an area-wise directory of farmers and their produce. This will be shared on my WhatsApp broadcast group (with around 4,000 people). These farmers are not tech savvy; it is time for us to reach out to them,” he says.
  • — Input from Nidhi Adlakha

One of the strangest things about Indian restaurants earlier was their reliance on foreign mangoes from Thailand and other all-year-round imports. Hapus was introduced on some upmarket menus during season, but chefs rarely experimented with the lesser-known local varieties — even though customers in every region are loyal to their “own” mango. In my home, for instance, battles would break over the inherent superiority of the Langra, the greenish, juicy Banarsi mango, or the sophistication of the sweet Nawabi Dussehri from Malihabad. Friends have hotly debated the virtues of the Himsagar from Murshidabad over Hapus, while others believe in the virtues of the Gir Kesar, so dubbed by the nawab of Junagad.

“Despite the fact that there are so many different varieties, each with a specific seasonality, we do not use these in restaurants. That has to do with the fact that even chefs are not exposed to diverse varieties and there are hardly any credible supply chains,” says chef Vikramjit Roy of Kimono Club, Delhi.

In the future, this is perhaps an area to focus on to save the Indian mango, instead of over marketing the Alphonso. Sadhu, meanwhile, proposes that there be a fair trade system where restaurants could directly be linked to farmers, there be one price for each variety, and strong supply chains created.

Even in this distressed world, refreshing farm to table networks and a push by big retailers to buy the produce of smaller, local farmers will push diversity, improve business and bring us a small dose of mango joy.

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