PANAJI
It's not for nothing that it boasts of the title of "King of Fruits".
Goa's GI-tagged Mankurad mango is fetching vendors a handsome Rs 500 a piece (Rs 6,000 a dozen) as the first crop of this season begins arriving in local markets.
On Thursday morning, only half a dozen vendors in Panaji had the golden yellow fruit for sale and all were quoting the same price -- Rs 6,000 per dozen.
Elsewhere, in nearby Taleigao, a couple of local vendors who operate on footpaths sold the Mankurad mango for as high as Rs 7,500 per dozen. According to one vendor, the price of the Mankurad mango is ruled by the size of the fruit. The extremely smaller ones are sold for as low as Rs 1,500 per dozen. Bigger mangoes went for between Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per dozen, she said. She also said that her customers are buying the mankurad mango in smaller lots and only a handful of them actually bought a dozen.
Currently, only a few trees across the State have the fruit ready for harvest. By the end of March and through April large quantities will be harvested and will flood the markets when prices will drop, said an official of the agriculture department.
