Alphonso farmers rewrite the script with branding, direct-to-homes sales and social media

Mango orchards extend over 300,000-plus hectares in the Konkan region, where the mango economy can touch Rs 3,000 crore in a good year.

Jagdeesh Ugale owns mango orchards that sprawl over 60 acres in Sindhudurg district, a prime Alphonso producing region. Till about three years ago, the orchards delivered excellent dividends for the rather large investment made. “Alphonso was equal to gold for us, given the prices it fetched, particularly in the international markets,” says Ugale.

But a triple whammy—the growing effect of global warming that often leads to unseasonal rains which destroy the harvest, two cyclones back-to-back (Cyclone Nisarga, which made landfall in Konkan in 2020, and Cyclone Tauktae in 2021, and Covid-induced lockdowns—has laid low his plans and resulted in mounting losses. “My losses run into lakhs,” he says over a barely audible mobile phone connection from his village deep within the Konkan region. “The cyclone took down the last of the Alphonso harvest this year, too.”

Alphonso mangoes are relished the world over for their rich flavour. More than 300,000 hectares in Konkan are estimated to be under mango cultivation. The mango economy from the region can touch Rs 3,000 crore in a good year, with 70% of the harvest consumed in India and 30% exported. The destruction of the mango harvest, and the closing of markets due to lockdowns, has hit Konkan’s rural economy hard.

New survival guidebook

Yet it isn’t all gloom and doom. Mango farmers, used to dealing with sophisticated global markets, are finding solutions—from direct marketing to online platforms and establishing brands. Ugale, for instance, reached out to his college friends in Mumbai and Pune, who spread the word across their network—from alumni WhatsApp groups to work colleagues and housing societies. He has been able to sell most of his mango harvest to this network at Rs 500-700 per dozen. “I have been able to decrease my losses by a fraction.”

From individual farmers to associations, Alphonso cultivators are experimenting with new ideas to reach out directly to their customers. Kokan Bhumi Pratishthan, a group working with over 100 farmers, launched a farm-to-fork initiative to reach out to housing cooperative societies. The Pratishthan collaborated with the government of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra State Agricultural Board and Agriculture Department to reach out to over 100 cooperative societies in Mumbai, Thane, Vasai and Pune Pimpri, and helped farmers find a well-paying market.

The Pratishthan also launched GI-accredited Global Konkan Alphonso brand which, says Sanjay Yadavrao, founder, Kokan Bhumi Pratishthan and Global Konkan, “helped convince people, particularly buyers in the global markets, that the mangoes we are selling are genuine hapus or Alphonso. For the past few years, Karnataka has been selling mangoes grown in the state as Alphonso, which is a travesty given the GI tag that the species enjoys,” says Yadavrao. Over five lakh farmers are part of Global Konkan. Almost 30% of the Alphonso harvest has been exported to Europe and the US as part of the travel bubble trade.

Despite the return of the export market in 2021 (it had flattened out in 2020 due to losses caused by Cyclone Nisarg and the Covid shock), Yadavrao is bullish about the Indian market. “Exports can be hit due to any reason—from climate to politics. However, the Indian market is resilient and offers a good rate. We begin selling at Rs 1,000 a dozen and by the time of the last harvest, we can still earn Rs 400 a dozen in the Indian market.”

Yadavrao plumps for direct-to-society marketing ventures over online sales in the long run. “Many societies or groups of people want to now deal directly with the farmer to get great produce. This is a positive fallout of the tragedies over the last two years. We have been able to cut off the middlemen and reach the consumer, looking for fresh, straight from the farm produce, directly.”

Interestingly, several individual farmers leveraged social media to send out a message about the immunity-boosting properties of the naturally ripened mangoes, which helped sales. “We have delivered around 10,000 dozen mangoes in 2,000 boxes to 100 societies in various cities,” adds Yadavrao.

Sanjay Yadavrao, founder, Kokan Bhumi Pratishthan and Global Konkan.

Battle to get back on their feet

These fledging successes barely shield the distress on the ground, however. Over a century-old trees have been uprooted in both the cyclones. Rane Guruji, a 65-year-old mango cultivator from Devgad, says he has never seen such bad times. “We have had our ups and downs, but Alphonso kheti (farming) had begun paying well enough for us to up our lifestyle. Now, many of us are dealing with debts.” He remembers the sharp pain he felt, standing in his orchards, looking at adult mango trees fallen like frail twigs, the morning after sheets of rain, caused by Tauktae, had swept through his years of hard work and nurture.

Mango stores dwindled after Cyclone Tauktae destroyed much of the produce.

Konkan’s farmers need government support. Yadavrao rues, “Alphonso farming has always been a self-sustainable enterprise. But Covid lockdowns and natural disasters have hit us hard. Nature ka santoolan bigad gaya hai (The natural order has been upset). The events have set us back by nearly 10 years. Alphonso farmers have to invest in modern technology to get a world-class product, and some invest up to Rs 1 to 2 crore. Many farmers haven’t been able to repay their loans over the last two years.”

The Pratishthan, and other farmer networks, are urging the Maharashtra government to write off 50% of the outstanding loans. “The rural economy of Konkan is dependent on mangoes, fisheries and tourism, and all three have been hit by the cyclones,” says Yadavrao.

As Maharashtra’s GI-tagged ‘golden fruit’ struggles for survival, the road ahead is arduous. Even though we will emerge from Covid to pick up the pieces and build lives and enterprises again, a greater tragedy looms. That of climate change, which the farmers have begun to recognise as a far graver threat.