Not exactly lip-smacking news for mango-lovers ? the fruit this ?off year? will cost between Rs 25 and Rs 30 a kg. Last year was an ?on season? and mango was available at a rock-bottom price of Rs 10 to Rs 15 a kg.

Traders at the wholesale Mechhua market say that though Rival ? a variety from Kerala ? will start arriving next week, the peak season (May-June) price will not be less than Rs 25-30 a kg. The season ends in August, with the arrival of Fazli.

Traders attribute the projected high price of mango to low budding in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. ?Langra and Himsagar will arrive in half the quantity compared with last year,? said Mohammed Sohrab, president of the merchant?s association at the Mechhua fruit market, the largest wholesale fruit market in eastern India, with an annual transaction Rs 22,000 crore.

Bearing him out, a deputy director in the state agriculture marketing department said mango production in the state will not be more than three lakh tonnes this year, against the average output of around 5.5 lakh tonnes in an on season.

Calcutta?s daily consumption of the fruit in May-July touches 10 lakh tonnes. The bulk suppliers are Malda, Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas and Hooghly.

Braving the dismal prediction, the state food processing and horticulture corporation feels the shortfall in harvest can be offset to some extent by hybrid varieties, like Mallika and Amrapali.

?We had distributed over six lakh saplings of Amrapali five years ago and budding has been reported in about 70,000 of the trees,? pointed out deputy director of the food processing corporation Subrata Bose.