Mango Season Shortened in Maharashtra, Pest Outbreak Hits Uttar Pradesh Orchards
20 May 2025, New Delhi: The renowned Alphonso (Hapus) mango season in Maharashtra’s Konkan belt is coming to a premature close this year. A combination of delayed rainfall and an early onset of the monsoon has drastically shortened the harvest period. According to market sources, Hapus mangoes from Maharashtra will be available in the APMC markets only until next week, far earlier than usual.
Unfavorable weather earlier in the season led to blossom losses, reducing output to nearly a quarter of the expected yield. Farmers had pinned their hopes on a second round of flowering, but limited fruiting from both cycles has meant that the harvest window barely stretched into mid-May. Now, many orchards across the Konkan region lie empty.
Initially, the Navi Mumbai APMC witnessed high volumes of arrivals, but the supply has sharply declined in May. Traders expect the final consignment of Alphonso mangoes from Maharashtra to hit the market shortly, though mangoes from other producing regions will continue to be available. In the Mumbai market, Devgad Alphonso from Sindhudurg has been in high demand, fetching prices between ₹10,000 and ₹12,000 per box.
Meanwhile, mango growers in Uttar Pradesh are grappling with a widespread pest infestation. The orchards in regions like Malihabad have been hit hard by rising temperatures, which have encouraged the spread of pests such as the paired fruit borer and the semilooper. These insects damage the fruit by causing scarring and deterioration in taste, ultimately reducing the market value.
Experts at the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) have noted that these pests are laying eggs on developing fruits and their stalks. The paired fruit borer targets the area where two fruits touch, while the semilooper damages young fruit skins.
Some farmers have turned to using protective fruit bags, which have proven effective in limiting damage. However, the cost of such methods remains out of reach for many small-scale growers. For those unable to bag their fruits, experts recommend applying targeted sprays in pest-prone areas to reduce damage. With temperatures continuing to rise, the challenge of pest control is likely to intensify as the season progresses.
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