DevgadMango Updates

UPDATE AT 12.20 PM, August 22, 2011. Thanks for your overwhelming responses. We are out of stock for Modak, Pulp, and Jam at this point. You can still place your order if you are okay getting deliveries after the Ganeshotsav. Goods transport operators do not operate from here during the Ganeshotsav so we will be able to honor any further orders only after the Ganeshotsav.

Dear Patrons,

We are pleased to get you the first update on our way to Season 2012. The Ganapati festival is approaching and we aim to bring the Devgad Alphonso for you and the Almighty Lord Ganesh arriving in your homes. We have prepared Modaks, Jam and Pulp, all made using only and pure devgad alphonso mango for the Ganeshotsav. We have also made arrangements to deliver them to your homes (only in Pune as yet).

Please send us your order in the following form and we will send the products to your place as soon as possible, before the start of the Ganeshotsav. Details like rates are mentioned in the form. Please give a minimum order of Rs 200. While the tin, bottle, and pouches are of standard size, the modaks are bite-sized, unlike the white modaks. Please have a look at the photos posted below the form.

The 21s and 11s packs for Devgad Alphonso Mango Modaks

Devgad Alphonso Mango Modaks on the hand for size reference

Devgad Alphonso Mango Modaks on a saucer for size reference

Devgad Alphonso Mango Modaks on a saucer for size reference

An old mango tree has become the pride of this Gujarat village, not merely because of its age – which, according to the villagers, is over a thousand years – but also because of its ability to “walk”.

Ask any villager in Sanjan Bandar in Bulsar district of south Gujarat, and he will insist that the mango tree in late Vali Ahmed Achchu’s farmland has moved about 200 metres from its original place in more than two centuries and is continuing its “walk”.

The mango tree (Mangifera Indica), which finds mention in the list of 50 heritage trees of Gujarat, has several unique features not seen elsewhere, says H.S. Singh, additional principal chief conservator of forests.

Its branches grow parallel to the ground from the main stem. Roots develop from a part of the branch that touches the ground, which develops in the form of a stem and the original stem dries off, he points out.

The branch keeps on growing parallel to the ground from the new stem and new roots appear in the same pattern.

“This process has continued for several hundred years, perhaps over a thousand years”, Singh says, explaining the villagers’ claim that the tree is “walking”.

Data collected by forest officials and information handed down through generations of villagers indicate that the mango tree may have been planted by early Parsi settlers about 1,300 years ago.

The age, however, still remains unverified.

Sanjan is believed to have been founded by Zoroastrian refugees who sought asylum in Gujarat in 936. They are said to have named the settlement after Sanjan in Greater Khorasan, the city of their origin.

Sanjan town is located close to the union territory of Daman, a former Portuguese colony.

Vali’s 30-year-old son Altaf says that the farmland with the “walking” mango tree was purchased by his grandfather Ahmed Achchu over 100 years ago.

The Achchu family – Altaf, his eight brothers and their children – owns a total of 22 acres of farmland.

Many old timers claim that the tree has “moved away” from its original site and still keeps moving towards the east.

Altaf says that the tree has moved by about 20 metres between two generations, as vouched for by his parents.

Diwal Kaka, a 90-year-old tribal who has never travelled outside the village, also vouches for the leisurely walk of the mango tree.

“It must have moved about 200 metres over the past 250 years – three to four metres every 20 to 25 years,” he claims.

Altaf remembers how the late Ganglibai, another old villager who tended to the tree, used to talk about the mango tree for hours.

Altaf also claims that parts of the tree carry medicinal properties.

The mangoes from the tree are comparatively smaller in size and turn flaming red when ripe.

According to Singh, the tree has been the subject of many studies and all efforts to graft it have failed.

“Last year the forest department took almost 500 samples from the tree for grafting, but officials later told me that all had failed,” he said.

 

Original article published on http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-13/travel/29652649_1_heritage-trees-gujarat-village-mango-tree

Alphonso is grown in Devgad and our relation with Alphonso is the same as of a mother with her child! While Alphonso will always be closest to our hearts, we were pleased to read a writer’s perspective on it. Reproducing it for here in the service of our patrons!
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Oh to be in Mumbai, now that summer is here. This is the song on the lips of all those who once lived here but now reside somewhere else, for while the summer brings heat and humidity it also brings that most famous visitor to Mumbai — the Alphonso. The Alphonso, or hapus as it is locally called, is universally called the ‘King of Mangoes’ and anyone who has tasted it knows that this is not a hyperbolic tag-line invented by some smart alec from the advertising industry. This is the absolute truth.

So devoted are Mumbaikars to this fruit that they shed their reputed cosmopolitanism and switch to a jingoistic mode. Nothing — not Marine Drive, Bollywood or even Sachin Tendulkar — can evoke such hyper-chauvinism in a Mumbaiwallah (and he/she may have left the city years ago) as the Alphonso.

No one from the city will even countenance the possibility that other varieties of mango — safeda, langda, chausa, and several other strange-sounding names — come even close to the Alphonso in taste, texture and smooth elegance.

The ‘payri’ is considered acceptable, but only to make ‘aamrus’, a puree that is often eaten as part of the meal. Nevertheless, it cannot hope to aspire to a higher ranking and must know its place. The rest, of course, simply do not matter.

The Alphonso, probably the only mango in the country with a proper name, has the ability to bring people together. Families sit together and eat it with the requisite respect, in silence and stopping only to pick up another succulent slice. But it can also divide. I know of non-resident Mumbaikars married into other cities who have fought bitterly with their loved ones on this issue come summer.

A friend from Mumbai, whose Delhi-bred husband insisted she eat only the local variety, was contemplating filing a complaint about mental cruelty and incompatibility. It was only when a relative air-dashed from Mumbai with the requisite supplies of Alphonso that peace returned.

Indeed, flights out of Mumbai during summer are full of boxes of Alphonso being carried by friends and families. Luggage carousels in Delhi groan under the familiar yellow and red cartons that spread such a lovely aroma that the travails of just having hovered over the airport for half an hour are soon forgotten.

When former US President George Bush made a friendly gesture by allowing mangoes to be imported into the US, it was the Alphonso that was sent.

Every April families go into a huddle to get their hands on the best Alphonso’s and call up their regular suppliers. The first flush is usually expensive but prices settle down soon enough and then boxes upon boxes arrive in the house, all timed for ripening at scheduled intervals.

The season is a short one after all and no one wants to be caught short.

What is it about this noble fruit that makes it so sought after? Why do Mumbaikars, normally such a chilled-out lot and open to new ideas and influences, sneer at all other varieties and are ready to pick up a fight? I can go on and on about how wonderful it tastes, but frankly, I cannot bring myself to get into an argument.

The Alphonso is the Alphonso — that is it.

A simple statement of this fact on my Facebook page recently evoked thunderous reactions from my so-called friends, from the incredulous (‘You can’t be serious’) to the hysterical (‘langda, langda, langda’). One or two even threatened to unfriend me. But as Gandhiji taught all of us, the path to truth may be a thorny one, but you cannot waver.

So here it is, said baldly and truthfully once again — the Alphonso is the best mango in the universe.

(Sidharth Bhatia is a Mumbai-based writer. The views expressed by the author are personal)
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Published in Hindustan Times on Friday April 22, 2011

Mangoes, the most sought after seasonal fruit in the summer, have arrived into markets in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by the lorry load but corporation health official wave raised a note of caution saying the fruit may have been prematurely ripened with calcium carbide.

Industrial-grade calcium carbide may contain traces of deadly arsenic as also phosphorus and its use for ripening of fruit is illegal in India as it is in most countries.

Tirunelveli (in Tamil Nadu) city corporation food inspector Sankaralingam said five teams have been formed under his supervision to check the sales of the artificially ripened mangoes.

However, customers will be purchasing other summer fruits — jackfruit, watermelon and cucumber — at their own risk. Hariharan, former vice-principal of Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital, points out that most jackfruit, watermelon, and cucumber have oxytocin, which may cause stomach problems and neurotic complications.

The schedule H drug, oxytocin, is being administered to watermelon, jackfruit and cucumber plants to make the fruits much bigger and glossy, said the physician, who had treated around 10 patients with diarrhea, abdominal pain and giddiness and they all were reportedly affected by such problems after consuming jackfruit and watermelon.

Accepting the fact that watermelons, jackfruits, and cucumbers on sale have mostly been administered oxytocin, Mr. Sankaralingam said there was no concept of the quality test to check oxytocin contamination as it was injected directly into the roots of the plants.

(Note: Reproduced from Deccan Chronicle http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/lifestyle/health/beware-glossy-fruits-say-experts-098)

We had sent our first consignment of 1000 dozens to Pune on 30th April, and all were taken away by 2nd May. Many people who came to collect their order, ended up taking more along or came back later to collect more. Some who had placed orders did not come to collect even after getting the email, SMS and/or calls from our side. We have classified such people and we will not process any orders from them henceforth unless they make an advance payment. Some came in without placing orders, and we did our best we could to provide them the fruit they needed.

We opened orders for the second and last time on May 5 and sent the last batch of Alphonso to Pune on May 8.

A request to all those who have taken mangoes from us. Please give us your feedback on our service, our fruits, our arrangement, etc and on whatever you want to tell us. Do send us your comments, praises, flowers, brickbats, ATM pin, images, etc whatever you wish!

We look forward to hearing from you!

As promised, we have sent the last batch of Alphonso for Season 2011 to Pune today (7 May 2011). The order has reached the pick-up center, stacked up and ready to be picked up. This is the last Alphonso to go out to our patrons as we down the curtain on this season.

The monsoon is expected to be on time and we sincerely pray to the Nature God that it lays a great foundation for a great season 2012.

 

The season for 2011 has ended and we have stopped accepting orders.

We are thankful to all our patrons who supported us

in this season which was the worst among all seasons.

Please see our blog post ‘What really went wrong?”.

 

We are delighted to hear back from our customers who wrote back their experiences after they bought our Alphonso. Please read their feedback here.

 

With vital and important learnings from this farmer-to-consumer initiative of DevgadMango.com, we are gearing up for a grand preparation for the 2012 season with lot of plans like Mango Bonds, Mango Festival, etc.

We need and request your support.

 

Please be friends with our Facebook Page,

and join us on our Google Group

so that we can interact round the year and help us get authentic Devgad Alphonso across to you.

 

Kindly leave your contact details below so that we can keep you updated on all developments at DevgadMango.com, and of course whenever we are ready to accept orders for Alphonso.

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We had closed orders on 28th April to service the existing orders in hand. We sent these orders on April 30th and they were exhausted by 2nd May. We got encouraging feedback and request for more mangoes.

We are opening up orders for the second and last batch of Devgad Alphonso mango. The order page on our website has been opened up and you can register your orders. We would send these orders only to Pune. In Mumbai, we are keeping a stock at the center, while we are there at the Thane Amba Mahotsav for three more days!

We plan to send deliveries to Pune on Sunday 8 May at our pick up center. We are accepting orders for Grade A1, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3.

This is the last batch for this season, which has been the worst in recent years and we have explained in this blog post ‘What really went wrong?‘.

The DevgadMango.com initiative and the response and feedback we got from all of you gave us strength and new lease of life in this grim situation. We thank all of you for that.