Mango harvest not so sweet, blame incessant rain

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Orchard owners complained that heavy summer showers have negatively affected the volume and quality of mangoes that are being grown.

They added that unexpected heavy rains in the summer delayed the fruit cycle.

Moreover, summer showers and hail caused more mangoes to get damaged, they said. Storms wash away the pesticide applied to the crop, making it more vulnerable to pests such as fruit flies, they added.

Javed Tasgaonkar, who owns an orchard in Talakinkoppa village, some five kilometers from Dharwad city said that he had lost 80 percent of his mango yield due to rain.

“There was a lot of rain this time around in Dharwad and there was no flowering at all. About 80 percent (of the flowering) was damaged because it requires humid climatic conditions. Last year, there was rain in December as well. So as a consequence, 80 percent of the yield was damaged,” he said, adding that he grew Alphonso mangoes on his three hectares of land.

SB Sadhani, who grows mangoes near Mugad village, about six to seven kilometers from Dharwad city had similar complaints. “I got hardly 10 to 15 percent of the (mango) yield I usually get,” he said.

Tasgaonkar said that late flowering led to a delay in the growth of mangoes, which was quite unusual. “Since flowering was late, fruiting was less. Usually, fruits start appearing in February end or early March. At the start of April, they start plucking them. By the third week of the same month, markets are flooded with mangoes. This time, it was delayed by one and a half months. Now we witness mango sales and heavy rain at the same time, which is very unusual,” he said. “We get Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 for a tonne of mangoes. This time around I got Rs 36,000 for a tonne from the contractor. Plus we have to pluck it and transport it to a certain place. We have to bear these costs as well,” he added.

‘Showers wash away pesticides’

An orchard owner said, "Attack of the insects is also more now. Flies lay their eggs on the stalk of the mango. From there, the larvae enter the fruit. The worms that you see inside the mango are nothing but larvae of the flies. Rain washes away the pesticides, which makes the mangoes more vulnerable.”

Another mango grower who owns the land on the outskirts of Dharwad, on condition of anonymity, said that his mango yield was destroyed by hailstorms.
“A month ago, there was a hailstorm near my orchard, which destroyed 80 percent of my crop. We usually harvest eight or nine tonnes of mangoes. However, this time around, we got two tonnes and I got Rs30,000 per tonne,” he said. Heat ensures that there is less water and more fructose (sugar) content in mangoes. Excessive rains therefore negatively affect the quality and sweetness of the fruit as well.