Gujarat’s Ahmedabad is gearing up for the ‘Kesar Mango Festival-2026′ at Vastrapur Haat, facilitating direct sales between farmers, producer groups, and urban buyers. The event, organized by Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation, aims to enhance growers’ earnings and offer consumers access to chemical-free fruits. Minister Jitu Vaghani will virtually inaugurate the festival on May 16.
Around 100 stalls, comprising 85 for mangoes and 15 for GI-tagged dates, have been set up free of charge for farmer-producer organizations and individual farmers. The festival will showcase carbide-free mangoes from key regions like Gir, Junagadh, and Valsad, alongside GI-tagged dates. This initiative promotes natural farming and aims to establish direct market connections between farmers and consumers.
Notably, the festival has seen significant consumer engagement in the past. Last year’s event witnessed the sale of over 3.30 lakh kilograms of mangoes valued at around Rs four crore. Additionally, a five-day mango festival during the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference in Surat sold 5,685 kilograms of mangoes worth over Rs 7.84 lakh. The Kesar Mango Festival, initiated in 2007, has become an annual platform connecting farmers directly with consumers.
This year’s edition continues the tradition of fostering direct market links and promoting chemical-free agricultural products. It serves as a marketplace for seasonal fruit distribution, emphasizing the importance of connecting urban centers like Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar with rural farming communities.
