Dashing hopes of both farmers and lovers of the king of fruits, the mango production in Karnataka this year, which was supposed to be anywhere between 10-14 lakh metric tonnes, has come down to a mere 5 lakh metric tonnes owing to weather factors and pest attacks.
Although flowering was delayed this year, farmers and the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation (KSMDMC) hoped to get an average yield. However, the extreme heat conditions reversed their expectations.
“This is the worst mango season I have seen in my life. In fields where we were getting 10 tonnes of mangos, we struggled to find 200-250 kgs. As the temperature kept increasing, we had no dew or rain this time, and all our flowers got burnt in the trees before they could set. We went through five rounds of medicines to revive them, but there was no use,” said Chikka Byre Gowda, a mango farmer from Ramanagar district.
While mangos are grown across 2 lakh hectares of land in Karnataka, around 60% of this cultivation takes place in Kolar. There too, farmers are struggling to get a decent amount of yield. “Usually, flowering happened in December – January, but this time, there was only 10-15% flowering. By February, there was good flowering on all trees. By the time fruit setting was supposed to happen, flowers started dropping due to heat conditions. We needed one round of rain which never came,” said Neelaturu Chinnappa Reddy, president, Kolar District Mango Growers’ Association.
He added, “There were also attacks from thrips and hoppers which led to further dropping of flowers. Our extraneous efforts to control the attacks did not work. While Kolar district usually supplies 10-12 lakh metric tonnes of mangos, this time it might be just two to three lakh metric tonnes.”
Mr. Reddy pointed out that unless the State government sets up good irrigation projects in Kolar, the future of mango farmers is quite bleak.
Mango Board says yield down to 30%
The KSMDMC attributed the dropping of flowers to an imbalance between growth promoters and growth retardants in mango trees. “While there was profuse flowering in February, vegetative growth increased by the second week due to the increased presence of growth promoters due to weather conditions. Hence, flowers and even fruits that had begun to set dropped after that. It is an off-year, and we can expect only 30% of the usual yield,” said C.G. Nagaraju, managing director, KSMDMC.
Farmers on the other hand say that 30% is a hopeful estimation and the ground reality is worse. “They have officially said 30%, but the farmers can get only 15% of their usual yield this year. There are at least 12,000 – 13,000 mango farmers in the Kanakapura, Channapattana, and Ramanagar regions and the government should announce some compensation to help them with their losses as it has been years now since they had a good year with mangos,” said Dharanish Kumar, president, Kanakapura and Channapatna Mango Growers’ Association.
Karsiri to open by April end, mango mela by May
Karsiri, KSMDMC’s online portal where customers can directly order mangos from farmers and get them delivered to their doorsteps via India Post, is expected to begin operations by the second fortnight of April. The portal is currently being modified to facilitate bulk buying across districts.
With uncertainty looming over the supply of mangos to the market, the dates for the popular mango mela in Lalbagh are yet to be decided. “There will be small melas area-wise in Bengaluru, while the Lalbagh mela will be decided depending on when fruits come in from the growing regions,” Mr. Nagaraju said.
Meanwhile, mango varieties like Alphonso, Sendhoora and Malgova from Ramanagara, Koppal and Dharwad have already hit the markets, and are currently selling at anywhere between ₹180-230 per kg at HOPCOMS.
