Mango trees covered with flowers in Malihabad, India, are giving growers hope for a bumper mango crop this year. Saturday 5 March saw storms in the town, which caused some of the initial fruit which had set to drop. Yet growers believe the trees will regenerate the lost blossoms, if the weather stays good for at least a fortnight.
The mango crop in Malihabad was the worst hit last year by adverse weather. A comparatively warm winter this year led to early initiation of the budding stage in mango orchards.
The slight drop in temperature at the end of January made growers apprehensive but the weather has since been fairly good for the crop.
"An average of 38 degrees is the ideal temperature for mangoes. Any sudden rise or drop can still hit the crop. Once the fruit sets in, fluctuating temperature may not be a problem," said mango grower and orchard owner Naseeb Khan.
Storm and rain can be damaging as it causes not only the early fruit to drop but also makes the yield vulnerable to fungal infection.
At least 20% of trees in Malihabad, the state's most prolific mango producing region, had buds develop into flowers by early January this year.
In the course of a normal winter, when temperatures rise gradually towards the end of January, the budding stage begins and flowers develop by February-March.
Malihabad has its 'on year' this season (considering that mango trees produce a good crop every alternate year and last season was Malihabad's off-year). The region produces an average 500,000 metric tonnes of mangoes. 95% of the state's production comes from the 15,000 hectare of Malihabad-Maal-Rahimabad belt of Lucknow.
Last year, about 400,000 hectares of the mango belt in the state was hit by bad weather. Anthracnose, a fungal infection, reduced fruits and twigs to blackened remains. While ripened mangoes are picked by May in a normal cycle, last year, the fruit reached the market in June. The horticulture department, however, denied the situation was alarming for this year.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
