Pulp Friction

Alphonso mangoes are caught in a Gl showdown between Maharashtra's Konkan and Gujarat's Valsad growers

- Dhaval S. Kulkarni and Jumana Shah

WHAT MAKES AN ALPHONSO MANGO TRULY ALPHONSO—its variety, its geography or its history? The question lies at the heart of a dispute between growers in Maharashtra and Gujarat, after a bid to secure a GI (Geographical Indication) tag—a legal label that protects products linked to a specific place—for the Valsad Hapus (Hapus is an alternative name for Alphonso) challenged the exclusivity long claimed by the Konkan’s famed fruit. Alphonso derives its name from the 16th-century Portuguese general Afonso de Albuquerque.

In 2018, Alphonso received GI status limited to five coastal districts of Maharashtra—Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane and Palghar. Growers describe the tag as recognition of the region's laterite soil, humidity, flowering cycles and centuries of cultivation that shape the fruit’s taste.