Bhagalpur, June 18: Bangalore residents would soon relish the choicest and juiciest of mangoes, fresh from the orchards of Bhagalpur.

A beaming Randhir Choudhary, a mango grower from Kahalgaon, despatched the first consignment of mangoes to Bangalore in well-prepared coloured cartons with "Bhagalpur ki Saugaat" (gift from Bhagalpur) printed in bold letters on it on Wednesday.

The consignment comprised 200 cartoons of Malda variety of mangoes, weighing 10 quintals, from this region to Bangalore, while another consignment of special Dudhia Malda variety from the orchard of one Ashit Kumar Jha in Nathnagar was sent to Bangalore on Thursday.

"Last year, we had established Bihar Mango Growers' Federation, a body of mango farmers. The vice-chancellor of Bihar Agriculture University (BAU), Sabour, Mewa Lal Choudhary, played a key role in its formation. Our aim was to monopolise the market just as India's vineyards do in the world market. Since we grow much better quality mangoes, we should try our luck in outside markets," said Randhir.

Randhir said: "We prepared the coloured cartons and marked that all mangoes are 100 per cent organic and free from carbide. They are easy-to-carry and the shape makes ideal gift packs."

Shiv Kumar Mandal, a mango farmer from Milky village under Kahalgaon sub-division, who sent mangoes from his orchards to Bangalore on Wednesday, hoped that the federation would not only serve the interests of the farmers but would also manage to establish local mangoes in markets outside. "Mandal, who would have the opportunity to sell his fruits at Rs 1,500 per quintal here, can easily earn at least Rs 3,000 per quintal in Bangalore," said Randhir.

He said the federation was working hard to link markets and account for the traceability of the product on the packets, i.e. a person can know the name of the place the fruit is grown along with the name of the gardener.

Ashok Choudhary, president of the federation, better known as Mango Man, said: "I have specialisation on Jardalu variety of mangoes. We have sent those to the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries in New Delhi recently. We had to delay the consignments this time. The season of Jardalu has ended. Towards June-end, I will send other varieties of mangoes to other parts of the country with the help of our federation."

Ashok added that the federation had concentrated on establishing a business development cell so that it could easily set up market linkages across the country.

Randhir said because of lack of publicity, people outside the region were not familiar with Malda, Jardalu, Amrapali and other varieties of mangoes from this region.

"There is high demand for mangoes from Hyderabad but we do not have any logistic chain. If we send our product there, we would have to make it through Calcutta. Not a single government agency is ready to help us at this moment. We are losing the opportunity," Randhir said.

Subhash Choudhary, a mango farmer from Pansalla village under the jurisdiction of Sultanganj police station in Bhagalpur, said: " I grow organic mangoes, which have a great demand abroad."