Essentially the most awaited season every year in a number of homes can be the mango season and every time I see the primary mango available in the market, my face invariably breaks into an enormous smile.
It’s the king of fruits for a purpose, isn’t it? Only a few moments examine to the happiness one experiences whereas relishing a juicy mango, getting our arms and faces yellow within the course of.
For me, and many individuals from Maharashtra, the perfect mango is the Hapus or the Alphonso.
Grown majorly within the Konkan area, completely different varieties exist relying on the district, dimension and the flavour of the mango. Nonetheless, mango purists declare to have the ability to establish if it’s an precise Hapus mango simply by touching or smelling it.
I actually have been dissatisfied many instances to search out out that the mango which I paid a premium for, was probably not an Alphonso.
Whereas the market is full of mangoes proper from February and March with many claiming to be promoting the Ratnagiri or Devgad Hapus, how does a buyer differentiate? How can we be certain that the mango that we’re paying an arm and leg for is actually what it claims to be?
Regardless of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad district receiving the GI (Geographical Indication) tag in 2018, the rampant adulteration in mangoes is affecting the hardworking farmers in addition to the purchasers.
Even amongst these mangoes, the Devgad selection sells for a premium, starting from Rs 1,000 to even a whopping Rs 3,500 per dozen!
Farmers from Devgad, which falls in Sindhudurg district, first tried QR codes, bar codes and different strategies to make sure authenticity. When middlemen discovered a strategy to tamper with these too, the Devgad Taluka Mango Grower’s Co-operative Society Restricted discovered a novel strategy to shield their mangoes.
This patented know-how entails a tamper-proof sticker which can’t be replicated and ensures full transparency and traceability. Right here’s what it’s and the way it works.
What makes the Devgad Hapus distinctive
Fashioned in 1987, the Devgad Taluka Mango Grower’s Co-operative Society has over 900 farmers, whereas the whole taluka has 2,000 farmers. “It was initially fashioned to deliver small farmers collectively and assist them take their produce to the market immediately,” explains Omkar Sapre, the board member and advisor of the society.
“We began promoting on-line, particularly publish COVID-19, which allowed us to achieve prospects immediately. While you go to markets in Mumbai, you see many individuals promoting the Devgad selection. Both they combine cheaper varieties with the unique ones or simply add stickers stating that it’s from Devgad. To fight this, we utilized for a GI tag, which we acquired in 2018,” Omkar shares with The Higher India.
A GI tag is supposed to guard the mental property of the producer, on this case, the farmer, and the hometown, Devgad. It’s moreover meant to learn, implement high quality and forestall adulteration.
“The decrease high quality mangoes which had been being bought below the identify of Devgad Hapus affected the Devgad model. We wished to set up the supply and high quality. We tried barcode printing, edible ink, magnetic patterns and several other different strategies. They had been all getting replicated by fakes,” he provides.
What one wants to grasp is that the Devgad mango has a novel flavour as a result of topography of the area.
“Devgad has laborious laterite rocks, which provides the fruits a splendid aroma. The excessive altitude provides it its distinctive style,” explains Omkar.
Santosh Patkar, a farmer, states that what differentiates the Devgad selection from those present in Ratnagiri and different areas is its style, color, skinny pores and skin, and minimal fibre share. Talking in regards to the identification disaster, he shares that persons are promoting faux Devgad mangoes even after their manufacturing is over for the yr.
“Individuals are promoting mangoes from Karnataka and calling it Devgad Hapus. Retailers and on-line shops are duping individuals whereas charging a bomb. Resulting from this, our price and worth can also be coming down,” he says.
The way it works
As talked about earlier, the issue with QR codes or bar codes is that it may be copied. Prashant Yadav, an engineer and founding father of Solar Options, developed the patented know-how.
Merely put, the distinctive code of every product is split into two components, one above the seal and one beneath it. To entry the whole code, one must tear the sticker, successfully protecting away counterfeits.
“My patent is for hiding the identification of the distinctive code. We divide every code into two components, with one half hidden beneath the sticker. There are two digits beneath the sticker. Prospects can take a photograph of the label and ship it the quantity talked about. You’ll be able to then tear off the sticker and ship the remaining two digits,” explains Prashant.
The software program analyses the picture and confirms by the database whether or not the product is certainly one of theirs or not. All the code is matched with the extra two digits despatched as a caption on WhatsApp.
Prashant acquired the patent in 2021 for the tamper preventive seal. It’s single use and may be authenticated by prospects by WhatsApp.
“This may assist the model fairness of the Devgad Hapus,” provides Omkar. “This can even assist the subsequent technology proceed farming as they’ll reap the fruits of their labour.”
“We hope that individuals will begin recognising the true Devgad Hapus and think about the work that goes behind it. Our livelihoods are depending on it,” shares Santosh.
The subsequent time you purchase Devgad Alphonso, you should definitely examine the code!
You’ll be able to order these mangoes from the cooperative right here.
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Pictures Courtesy Omkar Sapre
