VIJAYAWADA: The carbide-free mango stall put up at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi is receiving huge response. The first batch of mangoes were sold out in a few hours, leaving the stall empty. With this, the officials have brought in the second batch from the State and put the fruits on sale on Sunday evening. Markfed AP is procuring the mangoes from various districts across the State, processing them to meet international standards and supplying the same to other parts of the country and abroad.
The mango stall has been opened to make available the best quality (carbide-free) ripe mangoes, especially of Andhra varieties, to the people of Delhi. The stall was inaugurated on May 10 with a stock of 300 boxes, each weighing 4 kg and priced at Rs 400. The mangoes include Banginapalli, Rasalu, Himampasand, Suvarnarekha and Nuzvid cheruku rasalu. Due to huge demand, the entire stock was sold out in just a few hours and the stall wore an empty look by May 11 morning.
The second batch of mangoes, which has to be transported by May 11, was delayed due to unavailability of space in Kerala Express and Tamil Nadu Express. With this, the stall remained shut on May 11 and it was opened for public by Sunday evening.
Speaking to TNIE, K Nageswararao, liaison officer of AP Bhavan, said, “The demand for AP mangoes is huge here and they were sold out in just a few hours. As we are selling the authentic carbide-free Andhra varieties, the people are buying them as soon as they arrive. Due to the delay in receiving the fresh stock, the stall remained shut on May 11 and the very next day, we brought fresh stock.”
In fact, the Horticulture department of AP had refused to put up a stall this year as the crop was low and the farmers didn’t show interest in selling their produce in Delhi. Later, the Markfed came forward.
The Markfed is processing mangoes through AP Agros, which has two processing units in Tirupati and Nuzvid.
The procured mangoes will be washed in a solution and then cleaned in hot water (52 degree Celsius) before they are kept in an ethylene chamber for a day and then in cold storage for another day. After the entire process is over, the mangoes will be taken out and packed before they are supplied to national and international markets. Each processing unit has a capacity to process 1,000 units every week.
“The process will remove all kinds of chemicals from the mangoes without compromising on their quality and taste. In order to supply mangoes to Delhi without a break, we have tied up with Sampark Kranti Express and AP Express. The mangoes will be sent to New Delhi every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Soon, we will also include some rare varieties of mangoes and put them for sale at the Delhi counter,” Sivakoti Prasad, joint director of AP Markfed, told TNIE.
The mango stall is open from 10 a.m to 10 p.m on all days at the AP Bhavan in Delhi. The stall will remain open until June 25.