If you want to eat mango, either you reach the shelf of the supermarket or the neighbourhood vegetable vendor for buying it. How about plucking mangoes from the trees in a farm of a grower, and buying it?

While it ensures quality of the commodity to you, the farmers get a direct link to the consumer. Taking this fact into consideration, the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Ltd (an enterprise of Karnataka government) has introduced the concept of ‘mango picking tourism’ for the consumers of Bengaluru.

In an informal chat with Business Line on the sidelines of a mango fair in Mangaluru on Friday, Kadire Gowda, Managing Director of the corporation, said that the corporation introduced the concept of ‘mango picking tourism’ during the end of the mango season last year. That received a good feedback from many people.

After seeing the feedback last year, the corporation decided to introduce this service this year also.

Those interested will have to register on the website of the corporation to be a part of the ‘mango picking tourism’. They will be taken to the designated farm of a mango grower in the areas such Chikballapur, Ramanagar and Kolar on the second Saturdays and Sundays.

After reaching the farm, the consumers can pluck the mango from the tree and buy from the farmer concerned at the farm itself, he said.

The corporation has conducted five such programmes during the current mango season. Those who opted for this programme plucked and bought around 6-7 tonnes of mango during this season, he said.

As this initiative links the farmers with the consumers, it eliminates the middlemen and provides a fair price for the commodity. He said that the consumer is also sure of getting carbide-free mangoes, as the consumer himself plucks the fruit from the plant.

ONLINE SALE

Gowda said that the corporation has also introduced online marketing of mango to the consumers. Under this, the consumer can place order on the website of the corporation for the purchase of mango. The farmer delivers it to the doorsteps of the consumer concerned.

Though this facility is limited to Bengaluru city only, around 3-4 tonnes of mangoes are already being sold during the current mango season, he said.

Apart from this, the corporation has also introduced ‘mobile mango marketing’ facility this year. The farmers registered with the corporation have been marketing mangoes in vehicles in the apartment blocks and the campuses of multi-national companies in Bengaluru, Gowda said.

Around 3 tonnes of mangoes have been sold during the current year, he added.

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