MADURAI: The recent raids and seizure of four tonnes of mango by Food Safety officials has caused concern among fruit vendors of Madurai, who claim they have used Ethril, an ethylene-based chemical advised by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and not calcium carbide stones, to precipitate food ripening. The fruit merchants lament that the negative publicity has greatly affected trade, with people avoiding buying mangoes. But officials stressed that the four tonnes were seized only after they found carbide stones used in the ripening and had not seized mangoes ripened with Ethril.
"We paid a heavy price last year on mango business due to use of calcium carbide stones, with people stopping consumption. Hence we have decided not to use the carbide stones and adopted Ethril as advised by TNAU. During the emergency meeting called by all fruit vendors associations in Madurai, we took a unanimous decision of banning carbide stone use in ripening," said S Muruganandam, secretary of the Madurai Fruit Commission Merchants Association. "We were in fact surprised by the overwhelming response from vendors who wanted to get rid of carbide stones as 11 of the vendors are facing cases and three were arrested last year. We urged them to do ethical business as minimum profits was better and all of them agreed. However, it was very unfortunate that the officials seized four tonnes of mangoes", he said. The vendors also said the merchant in question in fact used Ethril for ripening, but failed to remove the carbide stones stored in the godown, which invited action from officials. However, the news flashed in the media has already affected business, they said.
"Mango is the king of fruits and has the ability to beat any other fruit in the market. Even apple sales dip when mangoes come into the market. But we have observed that the "mango grace" is declining over the years with people panicking over the use of carbide stones", says M Mariappan, a fruit merchant in Yanaikal. "There were incidents when our relatives asked us to get raw mangoes assuring that they would take care of ripening due to the fear among vendors," says Muruganandam in a lighter note. The traders said mango trade is big business in Madurai, which supplies fruits to the entire southern region transacting Rs 50 to 60 lakhs in a day. Hence, the associations have decided to take measures of banning the carbide stones completely and educate the public about the use of ethril in ripening, which is a safe practice.
J Suguna, designated officer, Food Safety and Drug Administration department, insisted that the four tonnes of mangoes were seized after finding calcium carbide usage. "Artificial ripening of mangoes through carbide stones is an offence and we have issued notices to the vendors earlier. Entire stock of seized mangoes were destroyed," she said. Commenting on the use of ethril, Suguna said they found vendors using ethril in ripening but they were directly spraying on the fruits. "We have collected a few mangoes ripened in this manner and sent them for lab tests. Once the lab tests are available, we will know if spraying directly is advisable and will communicate it to the traders", she said.
The officials said they have seized another half tonne of mango ripened artificially at Arasapatti near Alanganallur. "We have warned the farmers not to indulge in such practices which will invite severe action," Suguna said.
