Mango business has been hit severely due to countrywide coronavirus lockdown."Half of the stock that we've is not being sold as there are no customers in the market. Also, we're facing problems in transporting it to other cities",says Balraj Bhosle, a mango trader in Pune.
A senior agriculture department official from Maharashtra's Konkan division has written to the civic chief of Thane to help mango growers of Ratnagiri sell their produce amid the lockdown for the coronavirus outbreak.
The divisional agricultural deputy director of Konkan division has told the Thane municipal commissioner that farmers in Konkan were ready to sell mangoes directly to consumers, as well as cooperative societies, if local authorities offer the right conditions and help, they added.
The districts in Konkan are among the country''s foremost mango growing regions and are famous across the world for the Alphonso or Hapus variety.