Calcuttans never had it so cheap in the recent past.

Mango prices have been in free fall, following a glut in output, and in some pockets like Howrah and Sealdah, it?s being sold at Rs 6 a kg, cheaper than even potato (Rs 8).

While the less fortunate areas are having to pay Rs 10 or 12, the price is still much lower than what traders had anticipated just two months ago.

?In March, we had expected the Himsagar and Langra varieties to touch Rs 20 and 25, respectively. But a bumper harvest has brought the prices crashing down,? said Iftekhar Alam, secretary of Calcutta Fruits Merchants? Association.

Though Langra is yet to arrive in bulk, those associated with the trade are sure that the price trend, when the variety floods the market in a few days from now, would be similar to that of Himsagar.

The over-production is also borne out by the fact that the fruit started arriving in the market, for the first time in many years, as many as 20 days in advance. The buds, too, started blooming from mid-January, around two weeks before schedule.

The glut has its effect on the export price, too ? it?s less than half of what it was last year. Deputy manager of the state food processing and horticulture development corporation Subrata Basu said the export price hovered around Rs 14 a kg, against Rs 35 last year.

An estimated 100 metric tonnes of mango are scheduled to be exported to Singapore, Malaysia and the UK, he added.

Efforts are on to tap the markets in China and other countries as well. With this end in view, the Agricultural Processed-Food Product Export Development Authority will be organising fairs on Indian varieties of the fruit in Singapore (June 8-12) and Malaysia (June 13-15).

According to a deputy director in the agriculture marketing department, the state produces 5.85 lakh metric-tonnes of mango in an ?on year?. This time, however, the harvest is expected to cross eight lakh metric tonnes.

The area under mango cultivation is around 1.5 lakh hectares. Malda tops the districts in production, followed by Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas and Hooghly.

According to an estimate of Calcutta Fruit Merchants? Association, the city consumes more than 10 lakh kg of mangoes daily from May to July. This year, the consumption is projected to cross 12 lakh kg.