Manash Bhattacharjee, a 39-year-old resident of Malda town, has never bought mangoes at Rs 150 or Rs 200 before the summer of 2022.

Living in a district known as Bengal’s “mango orchard”, Manash usually bought mangoes for anywhere between Rs 30 and Rs 80.

This year, he and many other mango lovers in Malda are buying mangoes of two varieties from south India. The reason: inclement weather has delayed the harvest of local varieties.

Malda markets are flooded with Golapkhash and Begunfali— the two south Indian varieties of mangoes. Golapkhash sells for Rs 180 to Rs 200 and Begunfali for Rs 150 to Rs 160 a kilo.

“I have never bought a kilo of mangoes for Rs 200 before. It is surprising that one has to pay anywhere between double to six times the earlier prices to buy a kilo of the fruit now, and that too, for two unfamiliar varieties,” Manash said.

Sanjay Saha, a wholesale merchant of mangoes in Malda, said local varieties reach markets from the second week of April. “But this year, harvest will be late after many seasons. So people are buying south Indian varieties even though those are no match compared to local varieties in terms of taste,” said Saha.

In Malda, 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes are produced in a year. Loved varieties include Baishakhi Guti, Himsagar, Gopalbhog, Lyangra, Fajli, Amrapali, Mallika, and Lakshmanbhog.

There are around 80,000 mango growers in Malda and around four lakh people are directly or indirectly associated with the sector.

“People of a Bengal district famed for mangoes are eating mangoes from southern states,” said Dipak Nayak, the principal scientist of Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture of Malda. “Mangoes need natural heat and intermittent showers to ripen. This time, heat was less which is why the harvest will be late by a fortnight or so.”