Mangoes will taste bitter this season as excessive rainfall and shortage of supply hikes prices The king of fruits may be in town, but it is coming with a big price tag this season. Untimely heavy rainfall in Konkan region has resulted in massive damage to crops and a severe shortage of supply. According to figures available at retailers and wholesalers, the supply of mangoes, especially those of the alphonso variety, is upto 50 per cent less this year compared to last year. Mangoes require a warm temperature and minimal rainfall to flourish. If it rains, the rainwater may enter the fruit and it starts to decay. This year, more than half of the total produce got damaged in this manner due to the untimely rainfall. Speaking to FPJ, Arun Pawar, wholeseller of mangoes at AMPC market said, "This year there is a drastic hike in the prize of mangoes. Last year the wholesale prize of each box containing 5 to 6 dozen mangoes was about Rs 1,500; this year it has gone upto Rs 2,000. The retail price per box is Rs 800, up from Rs 300 last year. We too are facing huge losses because of this." Kisan Bheke, a retailer at the market seconds Pawar's thoughts, saying, "There are hardly any good mangoes to choose from at the market. We pay more money to purchase it and even on that we are charged the commission. " He further adds, "The quality of the fruits are bad and so we need to keep it in a warm temperature and surround it with grass and mango masala. The mangoes are to be kept in freeze cooling for at least 18 days, so they can be ready to eat." Customers are already queuing up and demanding for Alphanso, Totapuri, Kesar, Langada, Chovsa, Neelam, Badami, Payar, Piyu, Rajapuri, Lal Aam, Sundari and Almas variety of mangoes from Pakistan and Morba from Kenya However, many are forced to return home empty handed after failing to find anything that might fit their pockets. However, something that might bring the smiles back: the prices are expected to decrease and return to normalcy by the end of May.